swallow
verb /ˈswɒləʊ/
/ˈswɑːləʊ/
Verb Forms
Idioms | present simple I / you / we / they swallow | /ˈswɒləʊ/ /ˈswɑːləʊ/ |
| he / she / it swallows | /ˈswɒləʊz/ /ˈswɑːləʊz/ |
| past simple swallowed | /ˈswɒləʊd/ /ˈswɑːləʊd/ |
| past participle swallowed | /ˈswɒləʊd/ /ˈswɑːləʊd/ |
| -ing form swallowing | /ˈswɒləʊɪŋ/ /ˈswɑːləʊɪŋ/ |
- [transitive, intransitive] to make food, drink, etc. go down your throat into your stomach
- swallow (something) Always chew food well before swallowing it.
- I had a sore throat and it hurt to swallow.
- swallow something + adj. The pills should be swallowed whole.
Extra Examples- Liquid food may be more easily swallowed.
- Most snakes swallow their prey whole.
- She accidentally swallowed a glass bead.
- She swallowed down her breakfast in a hurry.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverb- hastily
- quickly
- accidentally
- …
- swallow something whole
- [intransitive] to move the muscles of your throat as if you were swallowing something, especially because you are nervous
- She swallowed hard and told him the bad news.
Extra Examples- He swallowed back the lump in his throat.
- She swallowed convulsively, determined not to cry.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverb- deeply
- hard
- convulsively
- …
- have difficulty swallowing
- have trouble swallowing
- [transitive, often passive] to take somebody/something in or completely cover them/it so that they/it cannot be seen or exist separately any longer
- swallow somebody/something I watched her walk down the road until she was swallowed by the darkness.
- swallow somebody/something up Large areas of countryside have been swallowed up by towns.
- [transitive] swallow somebody/something (up) to use up something completely, especially an amount of money
- Most of my salary gets swallowed (up) by the rent and bills.
- [transitive] to accept that something is true; to believe something
- swallow something I found her excuse very hard to swallow.
- swallow something + adj. He told her a pack of lies, but she swallowed it whole.
- [transitive] swallow something to hide your feelings
- to swallow your doubts
- You're going to have to swallow your pride and ask for your job back.
- [transitive] swallow something to accept offensive remarks, criticisms, etc. without complaining or protesting
- I was surprised that he just sat there and swallowed all their remarks.
food/drink
move throat muscles
completely cover
use up money
believe
feelings
accept insults
Word Originverb Old English swelgan, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch zwelgen and German schwelgen.
Idioms
a bitter pill (for somebody) (to swallow)
- a fact or an event that is unpleasant and difficult to accept
- The election defeat was a bitter pill for the party to swallow.
like the cat that got/ate/swallowed the canary (US English)
(British English like a cat that’s got the cream)
- very pleased with yourself synonym smug
- She looked like a cat that’s swallowed the canary. She was almost purring with pleasure.