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Meaning of swallow in English
Pronunciation
/ˈswɑloʊ/
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Verb
swallow
Etymology
Old English swelgan, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch zwelgen and German schwelgen
Definitions
1.
pass through the esophagus as part of eating or drinking
Examples
« Swallow the raw fish--it won't kill you! »
2.
engulf and destroy
Examples
« The Nazis swallowed the Baltic countries »
3.
enclose or envelop completely, as if by swallowing
Examples
« The huge waves swallowed the small boat and it sank shortly thereafter »
4.
utter indistinctly
Examples
« She swallowed the last words of her speech »
5.
take back what one has said
Examples
« He swallowed his words »
6.
keep from expressing
Examples
« I swallowed my anger and kept quiet »
7.
tolerate or accommodate oneself to
Examples
« I shall have to accept these unpleasant working conditions »
« I swallowed the insult »
« She has learned to live with her husband's little idiosyncracies »
8.
believe or accept without questioning or challenge
Examples
« Am I supposed to swallow that story? »
Noun
swallow
Etymology
Old English swealwe, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch zwaluw and German Schwalbe
Definitions
1.
a small amount of liquid food
Examples
« a sup of ale »
2.
the act of swallowing
Examples
« one swallow of the liquid was enough »
« he took a drink of his beer and smacked his lips »
3.
small long-winged songbird noted for swift graceful flight and the regularity of its migrations