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absorbed - 4 dictionary results

ab⋅sorbed

  [ab-sawrbd, -zawrbd]
Use absorbed in a Sentence
–adjective
deeply interested or involved; preoccupied: He had an absorbed look on his face.
Origin:
1755–65; absorb + -ed 2

Related forms:
ab⋅sorb⋅ed⋅ly  [ab-sawr-bid-lee, -zawr-] , adverb
ab⋅sorb⋅ed⋅ness, noun

ab⋅sorb

  [ab-sawrb, -zawrb]
–verb (used with object)
1. to suck up or drink in (a liquid); soak up: A sponge absorbs water.
2. to swallow up the identity or individuality of; incorporate: The empire absorbed many small nations.
3. to involve the full attention of; to engross or engage wholly: so absorbed in a book that he did not hear the bell.
4. to occupy or fill: This job absorbs all of my time.
5. to take up or receive by chemical or molecular action: Carbonic acid is formed when water absorbs carbon dioxide.
6. to take in without echo, recoil, or reflection: to absorb sound and light; to absorb shock.
7. to take in and utilize: The market absorbed all the computers we could build. Can your brain absorb all this information?
8. to pay for (costs, taxes, etc.): The company will absorb all the research costs.
9. Archaic. to swallow up.
Origin:
1480–90; < L absorbēre, equiv. to ab- ab- + sorbēre to suck in, swallow

Related forms:
ab⋅sorb⋅a⋅ble, adjective
ab⋅sorb⋅a⋅bil⋅i⋅ty, noun

Synonyms:
2. assimilate, consume, devour, engulf; destroy.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To absorbed
ab·sorb   (əb-sôrb', -zôrb')   
tr.v.   ab·sorbed, ab·sorb·ing, ab·sorbs
  1. To take (something) in through or as through pores or interstices.
  2. To occupy the full attention, interest, or time of; engross. See Synonyms at monopolize.
  3. To retain (radiation or sound, for example) wholly, without reflection or transmission.
  4. To take in; assimilate: immigrants who were absorbed into the social mainstream.
  5. To learn; acquire: "Matisse absorbed the lesson and added to it a new language of color" (Peter Plagen).
  6. To receive (an impulse) without echo or recoil: a fabric that absorbs sound; a bumper that absorbs impact.
  7. To assume or pay for (a cost or costs).
  8. To endure; accommodate: couldn't absorb the additional hardships.
  9. To use up; consume: The project has absorbed all of our department's resources.

[Middle English, to swallow up, from Old French absorber, from Latin absorbēre : ab-, away; see ab-1 + sorbēre, to suck.]
ab·sorb'a·bil'i·ty n., ab·sorb'a·ble adj., ab·sorb'ed·ly adv., ab·sorb'er n., ab·sorb'ing·ly adv.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source

Absorbed

1. In a general business sense, when a cost is treated as an expense instead of being passed on to the customer in the form of higher prices.

2. In underwriting, when an issue has been completely sold to the public.

3. In mergers, when an acquired firm is folded into the acquiring company.

Investopedia Commentary

The meaning of "absorbed" is similar to the non-financial definition of the term.

See also: Direct Cost, Expense, Explicit Cost, Merger

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