Noun

The process, in the gastrointestinal tract, by which food is converted into substances that can be utilized by the body.

* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-29, volume=407, issue=8842, page=72-3, magazine=(The Economist)

, title= A punch in the gut , passage=Mostly, the microbiome is beneficial. It helps with digestion and enables people to extract a lot more calories from their food than would otherwise be possible. Research over the past few years, however, has implicated it in diseases from atherosclerosis to asthma to autism.}}

The result of this process.

The ability to use this process.

The processing of decay in organic matter assisted by microorganisms.

The assimilation and understanding of ideas.

(medicine, archaic) Generation of pus; suppuration.