WordGarden.ioengorge
C2Pronunciation
UK
- /ɪnˈɡɔːdʒ/verb
US
Meanings
Verb
to become swollen or filled with blood or another fluid
to eat greedily or fill oneself with food
Beyond the definition
Imagine a sponge taking in more and more water until it swells. That gives you the basic idea of how something can engorge. It means to become very full and swollen, often more than normal. Think of a tick after feeding or a river after heavy rain, when the water rises and the channel seems too full.
The word often has a strong, slightly uncomfortable feeling to it. It is most often used for living tissue, body parts, or natural spaces that fill with blood, fluid, or water. It can be used figuratively too, but that is less common than the physical sense.
To engorge means to fill something so much that it swells, bulges, or becomes uncomfortably full. The idea is not simple filling, but excessive filling: more than is normal, easy, or healthy. The word comes from a root linked to the throat and to greedy swallowing, which helps explain why it often suggests excess.
You will most commonly see "engorge" used in biological, medical, or natural contexts. A tick, mosquito, or leech can engorge itself with blood and become visibly swollen. In medicine, tissue can become engorged with blood or fluid. A river, channel, or valley may also be described this way when heavy rain causes it to swell with water.
The word can also appear in figurative writing for crowds, appetite, or emotional force, but those uses are less central. In any case, "engorge" is much stronger than "fill." It suggests pressure, heaviness, and too much of something, not just enough to occupy space.
Examples
- 1
Flooding
After hours of rain, the river was so engorged that it burst its banks.
- 2
Traffic
By five o'clock, the narrow streets were engorged with traffic.
- Patternengorged with + substance/crowd
filled too full of it
- 3
Nursing
During the first week of nursing, her breasts became painfully engorged.
See also
Forms and spellings
4 forms open this card.
Main spelling
- engorgeverb
Forms
- engorgedpast tenseverb
- engorging-ing formverb
- engorgesverb