digestion

noun

1. the process in the alimentary canal by which food is broken up physically, as by the action of the teeth, and chemically, as by the action of enzymes, and converted into a substance suitable for absorption and assimilation into the body.
2. the function or power of digesting food: My digestion is bad.
3. the act of digesting or the state of being digested.

noun

1. the act or process in living organisms of breaking down ingested food material into easily absorbed and assimilated substances by the action of enzymes and other agentsRelated adjective: peptic
2. mental assimilation, esp of ideas
3. bacteriol the decomposition of sewage by the action of bacteria
4. chem the treatment of material with heat, solvents, chemicals, etc, to cause softening or decomposition

n.

1. The process by which food is converted into substances that can be absorbed and assimilated by the body, especially that accomplished in the alimentary canal by the mechanical and enzymatic breakdown of foods into simpler chemical compounds.

1. The process by which food is broken down into simple chemical compounds that can be absorbed and used as nutrients or eliminated by the body. In most animals, nutrients are obtained from food by the action of digestive enzymes. In humans and other higher vertebrates, digestion takes place mainly in the small intestine. In protists and some invertebrates, digestion occurs by phagocytosis.
2. The decomposition of organic material, such as sewage, by bacteria.