swallow
verbEtymology
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”), Swedish svälja (“to swallow, gulp”), Icelandic svelgja (“to swallow”), Old English swillan, swilian (“to swill, wash out, gargle”). See also swill. The noun is from Middle English swolow, swolwe, from Old English swelh, swelg (“gulf, chasm”) and ġeswelge (“gulf, chasm, abyss, whirlpool”), both from Proto-West Germanic *swelg, *swalgi, from Proto-Germanic *swelgaz, *swalgiz. Cognate with Old English swiliġe (“pit”), Scots swelch, swellie, swallie (“an abyss in the sea, whirpool”), Middle Low German swelch (“whirlpool, eddy”), Dutch zwelg (“gorge, chasm, gullet, throat”), Old Norse svelgr (“whirlpool, current, stream”).
Definitions
To cause (food, drink etc.) to pass from the mouth into the stomach
To cause (food, drink etc.) to pass from the mouth into the stomach; to take into the stomach through the throat.
- 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.
- Clothes are to be worn and food is to be swallowed: they remain trapped in the physical world.
- The four-and-one-half-day trial was centered on acts that neither she nor prosecutors dispute: On July 13, 2012, she drove her Lexus S.U.V. erratically after swallowing Zolpidem, a generic form of the sleep medication Ambien.
To take (something) in so that it disappears
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.
To take food down into the stomach
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.
›+ 13 more definitionsshow fewer
To accept easily or without questions
To accept easily or without questions; to believe, accept.
- this humbug was readily swallowed by men who were supposed to be intelligent,
- Most newspapers we saw swallowed whole an S.R. estimate that it would cost £20m to equip the Region with point heaters.
- Be careful of the Commie Lies / swallow them and freedom dies / The USA must realize / that she's the biggest prize.
To engross
To engross; to appropriate; usually with up.
- Homer excels […] in this, that he swallowed up the honour of those who succeeded him.
To retract
To retract; to recant.
- to swallow one's opinions
- Left her in her tears, and dried not one of them with his comfort; swallowed his vows whole
To put up with
To put up with; to bear patiently or without retaliation.
- to swallow an affront or insult
To fellate
To fellate; perform oral sex.
A deep chasm or abyss in the earth.
The mouth and throat
The mouth and throat; that which is used for swallowing; the gullet.
The amount swallowed in one gulp
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."
The opening in a pulley block between the sheave and shell through which the rope passes.
- 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.
- Blocks are made in a great variety of patterns. All are designed to be used one way. The rope goes through the swallow.
Any of various carbohydrate-based dishes that are swallowed without much chewing,…
Any of various carbohydrate-based dishes that are swallowed without much chewing, commonly paired and eaten with various types of soup.
A small, migratory bird of the Hirundinidae family with long, pointed, moon-shaped wings…
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.
A surname.
A village and civil parish in West Lindsey district, Lincolnshire, England (OS grid ref…
A village and civil parish in West Lindsey district, Lincolnshire, England (OS grid ref TA1703).
The neighborhood
- neighbordysphagia
Derived
Vish — recursive loop
A definitional loop anchored at swallow. Each word in the ring is defined by the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself. Scroll to it and watch.
A definitional loop anchored at swallow. Each word in the ring appears in the definition of the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself.
7 hops · closes at swallow
curated · pre-corpus. live cycle detection across the full graph is the next major milestone.
sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA