bile

IPA/baɪl/
KK[bˈaɪl]IPA/baɪl/

bile — noun

1. a bitter fluid from your liver that helps the body process fat in food

1.nounC1
Definition

a bitter fluid from your liver that helps the body process fat in food

Example

The scan showed bile collecting around Meera's inflamed gallbladder.

medical context: bile around gallbladder

After the vomiting stopped, a little bile still burned Ezra's throat.

bile after vomiting

Common collocations
  • bile duct
  • bile leak
  • vomit bile
  • drain bile
Synonyms
  • digestive juice

    a broader term that can refer to several fluids in the body, not only this one

  • gall

    an older or more literary word that can also appear in medical writing

Grammar Patterns

bile helps break down fat

vomit bile

drain bile from + body part

Usage Note

Mostly used in medical talk or when describing vomiting and gallbladder trouble. In everyday speech, people often mention bile when a bitter yellow liquid comes up after the stomach is empty.

Common Mistakes

The liver stores bile.
The liver makes bile, and the gallbladder stores it.
The liver produces bile, but it is kept in the gallbladder.

2. sharp, hostile anger that comes out in someone's words or actions

2.nounC2
Definition

sharp, hostile anger that comes out in someone's words or actions

Example

At the hearing, Rania spoke with bile about her former boss.

speak with bile

Online commenters spewed bile at the actress after the interview.

spew bile at + person

Common collocations
  • speak with bile
  • full of bile
  • spew bile
  • bile in someone's voice
Synonyms
  • bitterness

    can describe a longer, quieter feeling and does not always show itself in speech

  • spite

    focuses more on the wish to hurt someone than on angry expression

  • vitriol

    sounds more formal and is especially common for cruel written or spoken attacks

Grammar Patterns

speak with bile

full of bile

spew bile at + person

Usage Note

Usually appears in writing about hostile speech, especially in politics, arguments, and online abuse. It suggests anger mixed with spite, not a quick burst of temper.

Common Mistakes

He felt a bile after the argument.
He felt bile after the argument.
This figurative sense is usually uncountable.

Word family

  • bilious
    adjectiveC2
  • biliary
    adjectiveC2

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

Bile is the specific fluid made by the liver to help the body deal with fat. Gall can mean the same thing, but it sounds older and is less common in everyday medical talk. Stomach acid is a different digestive fluid: it comes from the stomach, not the liver, and helps break food down in another way. Digestive juice is the broad label for body fluids that help digestion, so it is much less exact than bile. A doctor might say bile is leaking after surgery, while a patient is more likely to say stomach acid is burning their chest after a meal.

bile ↗gall ↗stomach aciddigestive juice

Etymology

LatinOld FrenchMiddle EnglishEnglish

Bile entered English from Latin bilis, the word for this bitter digestive fluid. English later extended the word to mean bitter or spiteful anger, reflecting older ideas that linked body fluids with a person's temperament.

First known use

1547

1547, in the meaning defined at sense 1b