swallow

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   the act of swallowing

   one swallow of the liquid was enough

2. 2
   verb

   believe or accept without questioning or challenge

   Am I supposed to swallow that story?

3. 3
   verb

   keep from expressing

   I swallowed my anger and kept quiet

4. 4
   verb

   to take back what one has said

   I swallowed my words.

5. 5
   verb

   utter indistinctly

   You swallowed the last words of your speech.

6. 6
   verb

   engulf and destroy

   The Nazis swallowed the Baltic countries

7. 7
   verb

   enclose or envelop completely, as if by swallowing

   The huge waves swallowed the small boat and it sank shortly thereafter

8. 8
   verb

   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.

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”), Swedish svälja (“to swallow, gulp”), 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 Pro…