Swallow (Verb)
Meaning 1
Enclose or envelop completely, as if by swallowing; "The huge waves swallowed the small boat and it sank shortly thereafter".
Classification
Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging.
Examples
- The thick fog swallowed the city, reducing visibility to almost zero.
- The massive storm cloud swallowed the plane, and communication with it was lost.
- The huge, old tree swallowed the small garden shed with its sprawling branches.
- Darkness swallowed the valley, making it difficult to navigate at night.
- The flash flood swallowed the small village, resulting in significant loss of life.
Synonyms
Hypernyms
Meaning 2
Take back what one has said; "He swallowed his words".
Classification
Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing.
Examples
- She realized she had gone too far and had to swallow her insults.
- After offending the boss, Jack swallowed his defiance and apologized.
- He swallowed his teasing words and began to help his sister instead.
- In an attempt to keep the peace, she swallowed her sharp retort.
- As soon as he said it, he wished he could swallow those hurtful words.
Synonyms
Hypernyms
Meaning 3
Believe or accept without questioning or challenge; "Am I supposed to swallow that story?".
Classification
Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting.
Examples
- People were skeptical and refused to swallow the politician's claim of innocence.
- He expected me to swallow his excuse, but I wasn't buying it.
- Are you suggesting that we just swallow this large increase in price without any explanation?
- It's not easy to swallow the information that someone has been deceiving you all along.
- I'm not going to swallow that ridiculous explanation without questioning its validity.
Meaning 4
Pass through the esophagus as part of eating or drinking; "Swallow the raw fish--it won't kill you!".
Classification
Verbs of eating and drinking.
Examples
- Swallow the raw fish--it won't kill you.
- You have to swallow the pill whole, don't chew on it.
- She took a big sip of the cold drink and swallowed quickly.
- After taking the medication, swallow with water to ensure it goes down smoothly.
- He told his child to swallow the cough syrup even though it didn't taste great.
Synonyms
Related Words
Meaning 5
Engulf and destroy; "The Nazis swallowed the Baltic countries".
Classification
Verbs of fighting, athletic activities.
Examples
- The heavy flames swallowed the entire house leaving nothing but ashes.
- In the 1997 Asian financial crisis, several international banks swallowed failing institutions to minimize losses.
- Industrialization has swallowed the wildlife that once inhabited the wetlands near the cities.
- By 1963, neighboring countries swallowed Tibet through the help of their communist ideology.
- Commercialization swallowed many family-owned businesses in the downtown area during the rapid urbanization of the 1990s.
Hypernyms
Meaning 6
Utter indistinctly; "She swallowed the last words of her speech".
Classification
Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing.
Examples
- He was speaking so rapidly that he swallowed the entire last sentence of his warning.
- As the voice trembled, she swallowed the final phrase of her apology.
- Speaking in hushed tones, the priest seemed to swallow the final words of the blessing.
- His voice faded as he spoke the last ten words, swallowing several in the silence.
- With tears choking her voice, she nearly swallowed the name of her loved one.
Hypernyms
Meaning 7
Keep from expressing; "I swallowed my anger and kept quiet".
Classification
Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting.
Examples
- I swallowed my pride and apologized to her for the misunderstanding.
- She swallowed her fear and agreed to skydive for the first time.
- He swallowed his doubts and proposed to his long-term girlfriend.
- They swallowed their disagreement and put on a united front at the meeting.
- I swallowed my disappointment and congratulated him on his success.
Hypernyms
Meaning 8
Tolerate or accommodate oneself to; "I shall have to accept these unpleasant working conditions"; "I swallowed the insult"; "She has learned to live with her husband's little idiosyncrasies".
Classification
Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting.
Examples
- I'll have to swallow the criticism and keep doing my job.
- He knows his wife's constant lateness is something he'll have to learn to swallow.
- The crowd was hostile, but the comedian knew he had to swallow the heckling and keep performing.
- After being constantly reminded of her limitations, she learned to swallow her pride and ask for help.
- She had to swallow her resentment towards her stepmother and pretend everything was fine.