Ingestion vs. Egestion

Ingestion

Ingestion is the consumption of a substance by an organism. In animals it normally is accomplished by taking in a substance through the mouth into the gastrointestinal tract; such as through eating or drinking. In single-celled organisms ingestion takes place by absorbing a substance through the cell membrane.

Besides nutritional items, may be ingested include medication (where ingestion is termed oral administration), recreational drugs, and substances considered inedible; such as foreign bodies or excrement. Ingestion is a common route taken by pathogenic organisms and poisons entering the body.

Ingestion can also refer to a mechanism picking up something and making it enter an internal hollow of that mechanism, e.g. “a grille was fitted to prevent the pump from ingesting driftwood”.