imbibe

(ĭm-bīb')

v., -bibed, -bib·ing, -bibes.

v.tr.

1. To drink.
2. To absorb or take in as if by drinking: "The whole body . . . imbibes delight through every pore" (Henry David Thoreau).
3. To receive and absorb into the mind: "Gladstone had . . . imbibed a strong prejudice against Americans" (Philip Magnus).
4. Obsolete. To permeate; saturate.

v.intr.
To drink alcoholic beverages.

[Middle English embiben, to soak up, saturate, from Latin imbibere, to drink in, imbibe : in-, in; see in-² + bibere, to drink.]

imbiber im·bib'er n.

View more Literature & Language videos

verb

1. To take into the mouth and swallow (a liquid): drink, pull on, quaff, sip, sup. Informal swig, toss down (or off). Slang belt. Idioms: wet one's whistle. See mouth.
2. To take alcoholic liquor, especially excessively or habitually: drink, guzzle, tipple. Informal nip², soak. Slang booze, lush², tank up. Idioms: bend the elbow, hit the bottle. See drugs/temperance.
3. To take in (moisture or liquid): absorb, drink, soak (up), sop up, take up. See give/take/reciprocity.
4. To take in and incorporate, especially mentally: absorb, assimilate, digest, take up. Informal soak (up). See accept/reject.

v

Definition: drink heavily
Antonyms: abstain

For a list of words related to imbibe, see:

• Eating Verbs - imbibe: drink, esp. alcoholic beverage
• Drinking Terms - imbibe: (vb) drink, esp. to excess

---

See words rhyming with "imbibe."

  See crossword solutions for the clue Imbibe.

Dansk (Danish)
v. tr. - drikke, indtage, opsuge, absorbere
v. intr. - opsuge, absorbere

Nederlands (Dutch)
(op)drinken, zich eigen maken, absorberen, inademen

Français (French)
v. tr. - boire (sout), absorber, imprégner (l'esprit), saturer (arch)
v. intr. - boire (de l'alcool)

Deutsch (German)
v. - trinken, (in sich) aufsaugen, in sich aufnehmen

Ελληνική (Greek)
v. - (αναρ)ροφώ, ρουφώ, πίνω, (μτφ.) μπεκρουλιάζω

Italiano (Italian)
assorbire, imbeversi di

Português (Portuguese)
v. - embeber, beber

Русский (Russian)
впитывать, усваивать, пить

Español (Spanish)
v. tr. - embeber, absorber, empaparse
v. intr. - empinar el codo

Svenska (Swedish)
v. - suga upp, suga in (äv. bildl.), tillägna sig, dricka

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
饮, 吸入, 吸取, 喝, 吸收水分

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
v. tr. - 飲, 吸入, 吸取
v. intr. - 喝, 吸收水分

한국어 (Korean)
v. tr. - 마시다, 흡수하다, 받아들이다
v. intr. - 술을 마시다

日本語 (Japanese)
v. - 飲む, 吸収する, 酒を飲む, 吸う

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(فعل) يتشرب أو يمتص‏

עברית (Hebrew)
v. tr. - ‮שתה, ספג, קלט, שאף (אויר וכו')‬
v. intr. - ‮שתה, ספג, קלט‬

If you are unable to view some languages clearly, click here.

To select your translation preferences click here.