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- pronunciation:
- swa
lo
- parts of speech:
- transitive verb, intransitive verb, noun
- features:
- Word Combinations (verb, noun), Word Explorer
| part of speech: |
transitive verb |
| inflections: |
swallows, swallowing, swallowed |
| definition 1: |
to take or draw (a portion of food or other substance) into the digestive tract by passing it from the mouth into the esophagus with a voluntary muscular movement.
She took some water and swallowed her pills.He wasn't hungry but he swallowed a few bites of toast.- synonyms:
- ingest
- similar words:
- bolt, consume, drink, eat, gulp, guzzle, imbibe, swill, take
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| definition 2: |
to engulf as if to devour; envelop; overwhelm (usu. fol. by "up").
The child was swallowed up in the mob of people.- synonyms:
- engulf, envelop
- similar words:
- absorb, devour, eat, gulf, overwhelm
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| definition 3: |
(informal) to believe naively, or to accept without resisting or questioning.
The professor didn't swallow the student's excuse.He had no choice but to swallow his punishment.- synonyms:
- buy, eat up, take
- similar words:
- accept, believe, brook, suffer, tolerate
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| definition 4: |
to force oneself to refrain from expressing (an emotional reaction or the like); suppress.
She swallowed her rage.- synonyms:
- choke back, hold, restrain, suppress, withhold
- similar words:
- contain, curb, repress
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| definition 5: |
to retract or withdraw (something one has said or written).
He had to swallow his words when we caught him in a lie.- synonyms:
- retract, take back
- similar words:
- eat, withdraw
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| related words: |
belt, consume, dose, gobble, quaff, take, trust |
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| part of speech: |
intransitive verb |
| definition: |
to perform the actions used to swallow food or drink.
His throat was too sore to swallow.- similar words:
- drink, eat, imbibe
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| related words: |
bite, quaff |
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| part of speech: |
noun |
| definition 1: |
an act or instance of swallowing.
- similar words:
- gulp, sip
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| definition 2: |
the amount that is or can be swallowed at one time; gulp.
a swallow of brandy- synonyms:
- gulp
- similar words:
- draft
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| related words: |
nip |
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| derivations: |
swallowable (adj.), swallower (n.) |
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