Alimentary means related to food, eating, or the process of nourishment. When scientists talk about the alimentary canal, they mean the long tube running through your body where food travels and gets digested: from your mouth, down your throat, through your stomach and intestines, until what's left exits as waste.

You'll mostly encounter it in science classes or medical contexts. A doctor might discuss someone's alimentary system when explaining how the body processes food and absorbs nutrients. Biologists study the alimentary tract of different animals to understand how lions digest meat differently from how cows digest grass.

You might also see alimentary used more broadly to mean anything connected to nutrition or sustenance. An alimentary habit would be an eating habit, and alimentary needs are the food requirements necessary to stay healthy.