intake

/ˌɪnˈteɪk/

/ˈɪnteɪk/

Other forms: intakes

The act of consuming food can be called intake. A veterinarian might advise you to limit your dog's intake of pizza crusts, for example.

While the process of eating can be called your intake, unless you're a militant dieter who weighs every ounce of food you consume, you're most likely to hear the word intake in a hospital or doctor's office. Caregivers might be concerned about a patient's intake of calories if he's very sick, or a dietitian might recommend an elderly woman increase her intake of calcium.

Definitions of intake

1. noun

   an opening through which fluid is admitted to a tube or container
   synonyms: inlet

   types:

   air horn

   air intake of a carburetor

   siamese, siamese connection

   an inlet with two or more couplings to which a hose can be attached so that fire engines can pump water into the sprinkler system of a building

   type of:

   opening

   a vacant or unobstructed space that is man-made
2. noun

   the process of taking food into the body through the mouth (as by eating)
   synonyms: consumption, ingestion, uptake

   types:

   eating, feeding

   the act of consuming food

   deglutition, drink, swallow

   the act of swallowing

   suck, sucking, suction

   the act of sucking

   drinking, imbibing, imbibition

   the act of consuming liquids

   mycophagy

   the practice of eating fungi (especially mushrooms collected in the wild)

   bite, chomp

   the act of gripping or chewing off with the teeth and jaws

   browse, browsing

   the act of feeding by continual nibbling

   coprophagia, coprophagy

   eating feces; in human a symptom of some kinds of insanity

   aerophagia

   swallowing air (usually followed by belching and discomfort and flatulence)

   draft, draught, gulp, swig

   a large and hurried swallow

   dining

   the act of eating dinner

   engorgement

   eating ravenously or voraciously to satiation

   banqueting, feasting

   eating an elaborate meal (often accompanied by entertainment)

   graze, grazing

   the act of grazing

   lunching

   the act of eating lunch

   repletion, surfeit

   eating until excessively full

   supping

   ingestion of liquid food with a spoon or by drinking

   degustation, relishing, savoring, savouring, tasting

   taking a small amount into the mouth to test its quality

   necrophagia, necrophagy

   feeding on corpses or carrion

   omophagia

   the eating of raw food

   scatophagy

   the eating of excrement or other filth

   gulping, guzzling, swilling

   the drinking of large mouthfuls rapidly

   sip

   a small drink

   potation

   the act of drinking (especially an alcoholic drink)

   type of:

   activity, bodily function, bodily process, body process

   an organic process that takes place in the body
3. noun

   the act of inhaling; the drawing in of air (or other gases) as in breathing
   synonyms: aspiration, breathing in, inhalation, inspiration

   types:

   gasp, pant

   a short labored intake of breath with the mouth open

   drag, puff, pull

   a slow inhalation (as of tobacco smoke)

   toke

   a puff of a marijuana or hashish cigarette

   type of:

   breath

   the process of taking in and expelling air during breathing