Egesting

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. The process of removing undigested material or waste from the digestive tract
2. Getting rid of food remains or waste products through the body
3. The act of discharging leftover substances from digestion out of the organism

Etymology: "Egesting" is the present participle of "egest," which comes from Latin "ēgestus," the perfect passive participle of "ēgerō," meaning "to carry out, bear away, or discharge." The Latin verb combined "ex-" ("out") with "gerere" ("to carry or bear"), so at its root the idea is simply carrying something outside. That literal sense of moving matter out of a place is what English kept. "Egest" took on the specific bodily meaning of expelling undigested food and waste, so the word describes the final stage of digestion, where the body rids itself of what it cannot use. Its close relative "ingest," from the same Latin verb family with "in-" ("into") in place of "ex-," means the opposite movement: taking something in.