This word confusion ingest vs inject came up in conversation when a friend misheard me. At the time, I thought there was a world of difference between ingest and inject, and yet they’re both about taking something in.
Admittedly, ingest is mostly about food, taking it in, although you can also take in information . . . or an engine can take in a bird.
Inject is mostly about inserting drugs into one’s body, but can also insert other things into something else or into orbit.
Word Confusions . . .
. . . started as my way of dealing with a professional frustration with properly spelled words that were out of context in manuscripts I was editing as well as books I was reviewing. It evolved into a sharing of information with y’all. I’m hoping you’ll share with us words that have been a bête noire for you from either end.
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| Ingest | Inject |
|---|---|
A Monkey Eating Something by RavindraKumar is under the CC0 license, via PixaHive. — He’s ingesting what looks like a flower. |
Junkie Injecting Drugs is in the public domain, via Pxfuel. |
| Part of Grammar: | |
| Verb, transitive
Gerund: ingesting Third person present verb: ingests |
Verb, intransitive & transitive
Gerund: injecting Third person present verb: injects |
Take (food, drink, or another substance) into the body by swallowing or absorbing it
[Aeronautics; of a jet engine] To suck in (an object, a bird, etc) |
Verb, intransitive: Inject oneself with a narcotic drug, especially habitually Verb, transitive:
Introduce (something) into a passage, cavity, or solid material under pressure
Introduce (a new or different element) into something, especially as a boost or interruption
Place (a spacecraft or other object) into an orbit or trajectory |
| Examples: | |
| Lead will poison anyone if enough is ingested.
They ingest oxygen from the air. He spent his days ingesting the contents of the library. The engine ingested a seagull and the pilot had to eject. |
Verb, intransitive: People who want to stop injecting. Dantes raised his head and saw Faria’s eyes injected with blood. “Here a solution of the drug is made up which is then injected using a syringe” (Cohen). Verb, transitive: He injected himself with a drug overdose. Inject the foam and allow it to expand. “The particles injected into an accelerator are referred to as a beam” (DOE). He tried to inject humor into the situation. She tried to inject scorn into her tone. He injected his voice with a confidence he didn’t feel. Many meteoroids are injected into hyperbolic orbits. |
| Derivatives: | |
| Adjective: ingestible, ingestive, uningested, uningestive Noun: ingesta, ingestion Verb, transitive: reingest |
Adjective: injectable, injection-molded Noun: injectable, injection, injector |
| History of the Word: | |
| Early 17th century from the Latin ingest- meaning brought in, from the verb ingerere, from in- (into) + gerere (carry). | Late 16th century, in the sense throw or cast on something, from the Latin inject- meaning thrown in, from the verb inicere, from in- (into) + jacere (throw). |
C’mon, get it out of your system, bitch, whine, moan . . . which words are your pet peeves? Also, please note that I try to be as accurate as I can, but mistakes happen or I miss something. Email me if you find errors, so I can fix them . . . and we’ll all benefit!
Satisfy your curiosity about other Word Confusions on its homepage or more generally explore the index of self-editing posts. You may also want to explore Book Layout & Formatting Ideas, Formatting Tips, Grammar Explanations, Linguistics, Publishing Tips, the Properly Punctuated, Writing Ideas and Resources, and Working Your Website.
Resources for Ingest versus Inject
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Apple Dictionary.com
Cohen, Julian and James Kay. “Taking Drugs.” n.d. Web. 15 July 2023.
“DOE Explains . . . Particle Accelerators.” Office of Science. Energy.gov. n.d. Web. 15 July 2023. <https://www.energy.gov/science/doe-explainsparticle-accelerators>.
The Free Dictionary: ingest, inject
Pinterest Photo Credits
Man Doing Nasal Irrigation by Birte and Villy Fink Isaksen is under the CC BY-SA 2.5 license, via Wikimedia Commons, having been transferred from the Danish Wikipedia.
