| / English Dictionary |
SWALLOW
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
The act of swallowing
Example:
he took a drink of his beer and smacked his lips
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Nouns denoting acts or actions
Hypernyms ("swallow" is a kind of...):
consumption; ingestion; intake; uptake (the process of taking food into the body through the mouth (as by eating))
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "swallow"):
aerophagia (swallowing air (usually followed by belching and discomfort and flatulence))
draft; draught; gulp; swig (a large and hurried swallow)
sip (a small drink)
Derivation:
swallow (pass through the esophagus as part of eating or drinking)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Small long-winged songbird noted for swift graceful flight and the regularity of its migrations
Classified under:
Hypernyms ("swallow" is a kind of...):
oscine; oscine bird (passerine bird having specialized vocal apparatus)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "swallow"):
barn swallow; chimney swallow; Hirundo rustica (common swallow of North America and Europe that nests in barns etc.)
cliff swallow; Hirundo pyrrhonota (North American swallow that lives in colonies and builds bottle-shaped mud nests on cliffs and walls)
Hirundo nigricans; tree martin; tree swallow (of Australia and Polynesia; nests in tree cavities)
Iridoprocne bicolor; tree swallow; white-bellied swallow (bluish-green-and-white North American swallow; nests in tree cavities)
martin (any of various swallows with squarish or slightly forked tail and long pointed wings; migrate around Martinmas)
Sense 3
Meaning:
A small amount of liquid food
Example:
a sup of ale
Synonyms:
sup; swallow
Classified under:
Nouns denoting foods and drinks
Hypernyms ("swallow" is a kind of...):
mouthful; taste (a small amount eaten or drunk)
II. (verb)
Verb forms
Present simple: I / you / we / they swallow ... he / she / it swallows
Past simple: swallowed
Past participle: swallowed
-ing form: swallowing
Sense 1
Meaning:
Believe or accept without questioning or challenge
Example:
Am I supposed to swallow that story?
Classified under:
Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting
Hypernyms (to "swallow" is one way to...):
believe (accept as true; take to be true)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s that CLAUSE
Sense 2
Meaning:
Tolerate or accommodate oneself to
Example:
She has learned to live with her husband's little idiosyncrasies
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting
Hypernyms (to "swallow" is one way to...):
abide; bear; brook; digest; endure; put up; stand; stick out; stomach; suffer; support; tolerate (put up with something or somebody unpleasant)
Sentence frame:
Somebody ----s something
Sense 3
Meaning:
Keep from expressing
Example:
I swallowed my anger and kept quiet
Classified under:
Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting
Hypernyms (to "swallow" is one way to...):
hold back; keep; keep back; restrain (prevent the action or expression of)
Sentence frame:
Somebody ----s something
Sense 4
Meaning:
Take back what one has said
Example:
He swallowed his words
Synonyms:
swallow; take back; unsay; withdraw
Classified under:
Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing
Hypernyms (to "swallow" is one way to...):
disown; renounce; repudiate (cast off)
Sentence frame:
Somebody ----s something
Sense 5
Meaning:
Utter indistinctly
Example:
She swallowed the last words of her speech
Classified under:
Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing
Hypernyms (to "swallow" is one way to...):
mouth; speak; talk; utter; verbalise; verbalize (express in speech)
Sentence frame:
Somebody ----s something
Sense 6
Meaning:
Engulf and destroy
Example:
The Nazis swallowed the Baltic countries
Classified under:
Verbs of fighting, athletic activities
Hypernyms (to "swallow" is one way to...):
demolish; destroy (defeat soundly and humiliatingly)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something
Sense 7
Meaning:
Pass through the esophagus as part of eating or drinking
Example:
Swallow the raw fish--it won't kill you!
Synonyms:
get down; swallow
Classified under:
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "swallow"):
bolt (swallow hastily)
Sentence frame:
Somebody ----s something
Sentence example:
They swallow more bread
Derivation:
swallow (the act of swallowing)
Sense 8
Meaning:
Enclose or envelop completely, as if by swallowing
Example:
The huge waves swallowed the small boat and it sank shortly thereafter
Synonyms:
bury; eat up; immerse; swallow; swallow up
Classified under:
Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging
Hypernyms (to "swallow" is one way to...):
close in; enclose; inclose; shut in (surround completely)
Sentence frames:
Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something
Context examples:
A question about whether an individual chokes or has choked when swallowing.
(Choke When Swallowing, NCI Thesaurus)
Symptoms include severe pain on swallowing and retrosternal pain.
(Bacterial Esophagitis, NCI Thesaurus)
A question about whether an individual has or had difficulty swallowing liquids.
(Difficulty Swallowing Liquids, NCI Thesaurus)
A question about whether an individual has or had difficulty swallowing solid foods.
(Difficulty Swallowing Solid Foods, NCI Thesaurus)
When something goes wrong with a part of your nervous system, you can have trouble moving, speaking, swallowing, breathing, or learning.
(Neurologic Diseases, NIH)
Bacteria, viruses, parasites and swallowed objects can all lead to abscesses.
(Abscess, NIH)
This affects basic activities such as speaking, walking, breathing, and swallowing.
(Motor neuron disease, NCI Dictionary)
But here, one subject swallowed up all the rest.
(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)
At last, with a swallow or two, he spoke, his face still wearing the same expression of extreme perplexity.
(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)
My present situation was one in which all voluntary thought was swallowed up and lost.
(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE
