swallow
noun
- bird
verb
- cause to go down the throat
Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /ˈswɒl.əʊ/ / /ˈswɒl.ə/ / /ˈswɑ.loʊ/
name
Etymology: * As an English surname, from the noun swallow (sense 2). * Also as an English surname, from Swallow in Lincolnshire, named after its river. The placename itself could be related to the verb swell, or related to the name of the river Swale.
- A surname.
- A village and civil parish in West Lindsey district, Lincolnshire, England (OS grid ref TA1703).
noun
Etymology: From Middle English swalwe, swalewe, swalowe, from Old English swealwe, from Proto-West Germanic *swalwā, from Proto-Germanic *swalwǭ. Cognate with Norwegian and Danish svale, Dutch zwaluw, German Schwalbe, Swedish svala.
- 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.
verb
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. 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”).
- 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.”
- 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.”
- 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.”
- 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.”
- 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 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 bear patiently or without retaliation.
“to swallow an affront or insult”
- To fellate; perform oral sex.