SWALLOW

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does swallow mean? 

• SWALLOW (noun)
  The noun SWALLOW has 3 senses:

1. a small amount of liquid food

2. the act of swallowing

3. small long-winged songbird noted for swift graceful flight and the regularity of its migrations

  Familiarity information: SWALLOW used as a noun is uncommon.

• SWALLOW (verb)
  The verb SWALLOW has 8 senses:

1. pass through the esophagus as part of eating or drinking

2. engulf and destroy

3. enclose or envelop completely, as if by swallowing

4. utter indistinctly

5. take back what one has said

6. keep from expressing

7. tolerate or accommodate oneself to

8. believe or accept without questioning or challenge

  Familiarity information: SWALLOW used as a verb is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SWALLOW (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A small amount of liquid food

Classified under:

Nouns denoting foods and drinks

Synonyms:

sup; swallow

Context example:

a sup of ale

Hypernyms ("swallow" is a kind of...):

mouthful; taste (a small amount eaten or drunk)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The act of swallowing

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

deglutition; drink; swallow

Context example:

he took a drink of his beer and smacked his lips

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 3

Meaning:

Small long-winged songbird noted for swift graceful flight and the regularity of its migrations

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

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)

• SWALLOW (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they swallow    ... he / she / it swallows   
Past simple: swallowed   
Past participle: swallowed   
-ing form: swallowing   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Pass through the esophagus as part of eating or drinking

Classified under:

Verbs of eating and drinking

Synonyms:

get down; swallow

Context example:

Swallow the raw fish--it won't kill you!

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 2

Meaning:

Engulf and destroy

Classified under:

Verbs of fighting, athletic activities

Context example:

The Nazis swallowed the Baltic countries

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 3

Meaning:

Enclose or envelop completely, as if by swallowing

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

bury; eat up; immerse; swallow; swallow up

Context example:

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

Hypernyms (to "swallow" is one way to...):

close in; enclose; inclose; shut in (surround completely)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something

Sense 4

Meaning:

Utter indistinctly

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Context example:

She swallowed the last words of her speech

Hypernyms (to "swallow" is one way to...):

mouth; speak; talk; utter; verbalise; verbalize (express in speech)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sense 5

Meaning:

Take back what one has said

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

swallow; take back; unsay; withdraw

Context example:

He swallowed his words

Hypernyms (to "swallow" is one way to...):

disown; renounce; repudiate (cast off)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sense 6

Meaning:

Keep from expressing

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Context example:

I swallowed my anger and kept quiet

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 7

Meaning:

Tolerate or accommodate oneself to

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Synonyms:

accept; live with; swallow

Context example:

She has learned to live with her husband's little idiosyncrasies

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 8

Meaning:

Believe or accept without questioning or challenge

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Context example:

Am I supposed to swallow that story?

Hypernyms (to "swallow" is one way to...):

believe (accept as true; take to be true)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s that CLAUSE

 Context examples 

"They jes' swallowed 'm alive. I bet he was yelpin' as he went down their throats, damn 'em!"

(White Fang, by Jack London)

This difficulty in swallowing is due to the fact that the process of passing food or liquids from the mouth to the stomach requires more time and effort for these patients.

(Scientists designed the first test to detect dysphagia, University of Granada)

All-gone was already on the poor mouse’s lips; scarcely had she spoken it before the cat sprang on her, seized her, and swallowed her down.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

You know, of course, that courage is always inside one; so that this really cannot be called courage until you have swallowed it.

(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)

"Oh, Mr. Bhaer, I am so glad to see you!" cried Jo, with a clutch, as if she feared the night would swallow him up before she could get him in.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

They may also have problems such as depression, sleep problems, or trouble chewing, swallowing, or speaking.

(Parkinson's Disease, NIH: National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke)

I had now swallowed my tea.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

Peggotty gave a gasp, as if she were swallowing something that was very hard, and, putting out her hand, said: Come and see him.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

A question about an individual's difficulty swallowing at its worst.

(Difficulty Swallowing at its Worst, NCI Thesaurus)

You can become infected if you swallow the parasite.

(Cryptosporidiosis, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)