swallow
Forms
- present (v1)
- swallow
- past (v2)
- swallowed
- past participle (v3)
- swallowed
- present participle
- swallowing
- 3rd person singular
- swallows
- Plural
- swallows
Definitions
1.To cause (food, drink etc.) to pass from the mouth into the stomach; to take into the stomach through the throat.
- Clothes are to be worn and food is to be swallowed: they remain trapped in the physical world.
- What the liquor was I do not know, but it was not so strong but that I could swallow it in great gulps and found it less burning than my burning throat.
2.To take (something) in so that it disappears; to consume, absorb.
- The necessary provision of the life swallows the greatest part of their time.
- His body, like so many others swallowed by the ocean's hungry maw, was never found.
- Elsewhere still, they'd managed to find the wreck of a Japanese midget submarine, and so, when the battleships were done being swallowed by the seabed, some efforts were being made to haul this up as well.
3.To take food down into the stomach; to make the muscular contractions of the oesophagus to achieve this, often taken as a sign of nervousness or strong emotion.
- My throat was so sore that I was unable to swallow.
- She swallowed nervously then, appearing near sick with what she had to say.
4.To accept easily or without questions; to believe, accept.
- Americans swallowed his tale because they wanted to.
- Be careful of the Commie Lies / swallow them and freedom dies / The USA must realize / that she's the biggest prize.
- Most newspapers we saw swallowed whole an S.R. estimate that it would cost £20m to equip the Region with point heaters.
1.The opening in a pulley block between the sheave and shell through which the rope passes.
- Blocks are made in a great variety of patterns. All are designed to be used one way. The rope goes through the swallow.
- In addition, j-lock shackles can pass through the swallow of a modern genoa track even with a sheet in tension already there, and this is very useful when preparing a sail change on the same tack.
2.A small, migratory bird of the Hirundinidae family with long, pointed, moon-shaped wings and a forked tail which feeds on the wing by catching insects.
3.The amount swallowed in one gulp; the act of swallowing.
- He took the aspirin with a single swallow of water.
- She took a swallow of milk and made a face. "This milk is blinky."
4.Any of various carbohydrate-based dishes that are swallowed without much chewing, commonly paired and eaten with various types of soup.
Frequency
Overall
Uncommon· #3838
By learning goal
- Everyday conversation
- Rare
- General reading & writing
- Uncommon
- Academic
- Rare
- Literature
- Uncommon
Etymology
From Middle English swolwen, from Old English swelgan, from Proto-West Germanic *swelgan, from Proto-Germanic *swelganą (“to swallow, revel, devour”), from Proto-Indo-European *swelk- (“to gulp”). Cognate with Dutch zwelgen (“to revel, carouse, guzzle”), German schwelgen (“to delight, indulge”), Danish svælge (“to swallow”), Norwegian Bokmål svelge (“to swallow”), Norwegian Nynorsk svelgje (“to swallow”), Swedish svälja (“to swallow, gulp”), Faroese svølgja (“to swallow”), Icelandic svelgja (“to swallow”), Old English swillan, swilian (“to swill, wash out, gargle”). See also swill.