Digestion of food: the process by which eaten food is broken down in the stomach/intestines and absorbed by the body.
昨夜食べ過ぎて、朝もまだ胃の消化が悪い。
I ate too much last night and my digestion is still bad this morning.
消化がいい食べ物を選ぶと、胃もたれしにくい。
If you choose foods that are easy to digest, you're less likely to get an upset stomach.
医者に消化を助ける薬を処方された。
The doctor prescribed medicine to help my digestion.
Assimilation of information: understanding and absorbing knowledge or information so it becomes firmly grasped.
新しい教材の内容をすぐに消化するのは難しい。
It's hard to fully absorb the content of new teaching material right away.
会議で出た意見をすべて消化しきれなかった。
I couldn't process/assimilate all the opinions raised at the meeting.
この本は専門的で、消化に時間がかかる。
This book is technical and takes time to digest.
Consumption/using up: spending or consuming something (money, quota, resources) or completing/processing tasks.
今月の予算を早々に消化してしまった。
We used up this month's budget quickly.
営業チームは今週のノルマをすべて消化した。
The sales team met/fulfilled all this week's quotas.
キャンペーン予算をどう消化するか検討中だ。
We're considering how to allocate/use up the campaign budget.
Archaic meaning: to lose one's form and turn into something else (historical usage).
古語では『消化する』が形を失って別のものになる意味で使われることがあった。
In old language, '消化する' was sometimes used to mean losing one's form and turning into something else.