What does engorge mean?
Engorge is a verb that means to swell or become congested with blood, fluid, or some other substance, often to an excessive degree. It appears most frequently in medical and biological contexts: capillaries engorge during inflammation, erectile tissue engorges during arousal, and a tick's abdomen engorges as it feeds. In obstetric and breastfeeding care, engorgement is the standard term for painful breast fullness caused by excess milk. The word can also be used reflexively — to engorge oneself — meaning to eat or consume greedily, though this older sense has largely fallen out of everyday use and now sounds literary. Derived from the Old French 'engorgier', built on the same root that produces 'gorge', 'disgorge', and 'regorge', engorge belongs to a family of words all concerned with the throat and what passes through it. Precise and evocative, it is the word of choice whenever ordinary terms like 'swell' or 'fill' feel too vague for a state of uncomfortable, excessive fullness.
To swell with blood, fluid, or another substance; to become congested or overfilled.
"The veins on his forearm engorged visibly as he gripped the weight."
Often used with 'with' to name the substance causing the swelling, as in 'engorged with blood'.
To gorge or devour greedily; to fill oneself to excess with food.
"At the feast, he engorged himself on roast meats and sweetmeats alike."
This sense is largely literary or archaic today; the reflexive form 'engorge oneself' occasionally appears in historical or ornate prose.
The same Latin root that gives us 'disgorge' — to throw up — also gives us 'engorge' — to swell up. Two sides of the same mouth.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of engorge
Engorge derives from the Old French verb 'engorgier', formed from the prefix 'en-' plus 'gorge', meaning throat (from Late Latin 'gurga', itself likely from Latin 'gurges', a whirlpool or gullet). The word entered English in the late Middle Ages, initially carrying the literal sense of swallowing or filling the throat, and by the sixteenth century had developed the sense of gorging greedily. The modern medical sense of swelling with blood or fluid emerged later, becoming well established by the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Its cognates include 'gorge', 'disgorge', and 'regorge', all sharing the same throat-related root.
Related word forms
How engorge is actually used
Engorge is most common in medical, physiological, and zoological contexts, where it describes swelling of tissues or organs with blood or other fluids. In breastfeeding contexts it is the standard clinical term for breast distension from milk. The older sense meaning 'to devour greedily' survives mainly in literary usage and is now rare. The word carries a slightly formal or technical register in everyday speech.
Easily confused with engorge
Gorge means to eat greedily or a narrow ravine, while engorge specifically emphasizes swelling or overfilling with fluid or substance.