Advertisement
Advertisement
swallow
1[ swol-oh ]
verb (used with object)
- to take into the stomach by drawing through the throat and esophagus with a voluntary muscular action, as food, drink, or other substances.
Synonyms: quaff, imbibe, drink, down, devour, gulp, ingest, eat
- to take in so as to envelop; withdraw from sight; assimilate or absorb:
He was swallowed by the crowd.
Antonyms: discredit, disbelieve
- to accept without opposition; put up with:
to swallow an insult.
- to accept for lack of an alternative:
Consumers will have to swallow new price hikes.
- to suppress (emotion, a laugh, a sob, etc.) as if by drawing it down one's throat.
Synonyms: suppress, submerge, strangle, stifle, smother, repress, pocket, choke (back), hold in
- to take back; retract:
to swallow one's words.
- to enunciate poorly; mutter:
He swallowed his words.
verb (used without object)
- to perform the act of swallowing.
noun
swallow
2[ swol-oh ]
noun
- any of numerous small, long-winged passerine birds of the family Hirundinidae, noted for their swift, graceful flight and for the extent and regularity of their migrations. Compare bank swallow ( def ), barn swallow ( def ), martin ( def ).
- any of several unrelated, swallowlike birds, as the chimney swift.
swallow
1/ ˈswɒləʊ /
verb
- to pass (food, drink, etc) through the mouth to the stomach by means of the muscular action of the oesophagus
- often foll by up to engulf or destroy as if by ingestion
Nazi Germany swallowed up several small countries
- informal.to believe gullibly
he will never swallow such an excuse
- to refrain from uttering or manifesting
to swallow one's disappointment
- to endure without retaliation
- to enunciate (words, etc) indistinctly; mutter
- often foll by down to eat or drink reluctantly
- intr to perform or simulate the act of swallowing, as in gulping
- swallow one's wordsto retract a statement, argument, etc, often in humiliating circumstances
swallow
2/ ˈswɒləʊ /
noun
- any passerine songbird of the family Hirundinidae, esp Hirundo rustica ( common or barn swallow ), having long pointed wings, a forked tail, short legs, and a rapid flight hirundine
- See fairy swallow
Derived Forms
- ˈswallower, noun
- ˈswallowable, adjective
- ˈswallow-ˌlike, adjective
Other Words From
- swallow·a·ble adjective
- swallow·er noun
- un·swallow·a·ble adjective
- un·swallowed adjective
Word History and Origins
Origin of swallow1
Origin of swallow2
Word History and Origins
Origin of swallow1
Origin of swallow2
Idioms and Phrases
- bitter pill to swallow
Example Sentences
And it's understood that the Treasury won't swallow up all of the welfare savings.
Anna Nikolin-Caisley said her youngest child, Vlad, had been "encouraged" to swallow poison by users of an online "pro-suicide" group which is still active in the UK, despite numerous calls to ban it.
But only for a moment; she has learned to swallow back tears.
An alleged thief in Florida swallowed stolen earrings worth more than half a million dollars moments before police took him into custody last week.
Even Bauman’s funniest musical bits get swallowed in the show’s frothy, frolicsome relentlessness.
Advertisement
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Browse
