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swallower

 - 6 dictionary results

swal⋅low

1  [swol-oh]
Use swallower in a Sentence
–verb (used with object)
1. to take into the stomach by drawing through the throat and esophagus with a voluntary muscular action, as food, drink, or other substances.
2. to take in so as to envelop; withdraw from sight; assimilate or absorb: He was swallowed by the crowd.
3. to accept without question or suspicion.
4. to accept without opposition; put up with: to swallow an insult.
5. to accept for lack of an alternative: Consumers will have to swallow new price hikes.
6. to suppress (emotion, a laugh, a sob, etc.) as if by drawing it down one's throat.
7. to take back; retract: to swallow one's words.
8. to enunciate poorly; mutter: He swallowed his words.
–verb (used without object)
9. to perform the act of swallowing.
–noun
10. the act or an instance of swallowing.
11. a quantity swallowed at one time; a mouthful: Take one swallow of brandy.
12. capacity for swallowing.
13. Also called crown, throat. Nautical, Machinery. the space in a block, between the groove of the sheave and the shell, through which the rope runs.
Origin:
bef. 1000; (v.) ME swalwen, var. of swelwen, OE swelgan; c. G schwelgen; akin to ON svelgja; (n.) ME swalwe, swolgh throat, abyss, whirlpool, OE geswelgh (see y- ); akin to MLG swelch, OHG swelgo glutton, ON svelgr whirlpool, devourer

Related forms:
swal⋅low⋅a⋅ble, adjective
swal⋅low⋅er, noun

Synonyms:
1. eat, gulp, drink. 2. engulf, devour. 10. gulp, draught, drink.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To swallower
swal·low 1   (swŏl'ō)   
v.   swal·lowed, swal·low·ing, swal·lows

v.   tr.

  1. To cause (food or drink, for example) to pass through the mouth and throat into the stomach.

  2. To put up with (something unpleasant): swallowed the insults and kept on working.

  3. To refrain from expressing; suppress: swallow one's feelings.

  4. To consume or destroy as if by ingestion; devour: a building that was swallowed up by fire.

  5. Slang To believe without question: swallowed the alibi.

  6. To take back; retract: swallow one's words.

  7. To say inarticulately; mumble: The actor swallowed his lines.

v.   intr.
To perform the act of swallowing.
n.  

  1. The act of swallowing.

  2. An amount swallowed.

  3. Nautical The channel through which a rope runs in a block or a mooring chock.


[Middle English swalowen, from Old English swelgan; see swel- in Indo-European roots.]
swal'low·er n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Slang Dictionary
swallow

  1. n.
    a puff of cigarette smoke. : He took just one swallow and started coughing.
  2. tv.
    to believe or accept something. (See also eat (sth) up.) : Nobody's gonna swallow that nonsense.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Word Origin & History

swallow  (n.)
"migratory bird" (family Hirundinidae), O.E. swealwe, from P.Gmc. *swalwon (cf. O.S., O.N., O.Fris., Swed. svala, Dan. svale, M.Du. zwalewe, Du. zwaluw, O.H.G. swalawa, Ger. Schwalbe), from PIE *swol-wi- (cf. Rus. solowej, Slovak slavik, Pol. slowik "nightinggale"). The etymological sense is disputed. Popularly regarded as a harbinger of summer; swallows building nests on or near a house is considered good luck. First record of swallow-tail is 1545, of a type of arrowhead; of a type of coat, 1835.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: 2swallow
Function: noun
1 : an act of swallowing
2 : an amount that can be swallowed at one time
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Medical Dictionary

swallow swal·low (swŏl'ō)
v. swal·lowed, swal·low·ing, swal·lows
To pass something, as food or drink, through the mouth and throat into the stomach.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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