/ ˈswɒləʊ; NAmE ˈswɑːloʊ/ verb , noun
■ verb
FOOD / DRINK
1.
to make food, drink, etc. go down your throat into your stomach :
[ vn ]
Always chew food well before swallowing it.
[ vn - adj ]
The pills should be swallowed whole.
[ v ]
I had a sore throat and it hurt to swallow.
MOVE THROAT MUSCLES
2.
[ v ] to move the muscles of your throat as if you were swallowing sth, especially because you are nervous :
She swallowed hard and told him the bad news.
COMPLETELY COVER
3.
[ vn ] [ often passive ] swallow sb/sth (up) to take sb/sth in or completely cover it so that they cannot be seen or no longer exist separately :
I watched her walk down the road until she was swallowed by the darkness.
Large areas of countryside have been swallowed up by towns.
USE UP MONEY
4.
[ vn ] swallow sb/sth (up) to use up sth completely, especially an amount of money :
Most of my salary gets swallowed (up) by the rent and bills.
BELIEVE
5.
to accept that sth is true; to believe sth :
[ vn ]
I found her excuse very hard to swallow .
[ vn - adj ]
He told her a pack of lies, but she swallowed it whole .
FEELINGS
6.
[ vn ] to hide your feelings :
to swallow your doubts
You're going to have to swallow your pride and ask for your job back.
ACCEPT INSULTS
7.
[ vn ] to accept insults, criticisms, etc. without complaining or protesting :
I was surprised that he just sat there and swallowed all their remarks.
•
IDIOMS
see bitter adjective
■ noun
BIRD
1.
a small bird with long pointed wings and a tail with two points, that spends the winter in Africa but flies to northern countries for the summer
OF FOOD / DRINK
2.
an act of swallowing; an amount of food or drink that is swallowed at one time
•
IDIOMS
- one swallow doesn't make a summer
••
WORD ORIGIN
verb and noun sense 2 Old English swelgan , of Germanic origin; related to Dutch zwelgen and German schwelgen .
noun sense 1 Old English swealwe , of Germanic origin; related to Dutch zwaluw and German Schwalbe .