I. swal ‧ low 1 /ˈswɒləʊ $ ˈswɑːloʊ/ BrE AmE verb
[ Language: Old English ; Origin: swelgan ]
1 . FOOD [intransitive and transitive] to make food or drink go down your throat and towards your stomach:
He swallowed the last of his coffee and asked for the bill.
Most snakes swallow their prey whole.
2 . NERVOUSLY [intransitive] to make some of the liquid in your mouth go down your throat because you are frightened or nervous:
Leo swallowed hard and walked into the room.
She swallowed nervously before beginning.
3 . BELIEVE/ACCEPT [transitive] informal to believe a story, explanation etc that is not actually true:
Do they really think we are stupid enough to swallow that?
I found his story a bit hard to swallow (=difficult to believe) .
4 . FEELINGS [transitive] to stop yourself from showing a feeling, especially anger:
She swallowed her anger and turned to face him.
5 . swallow your pride to do something even though it is embarrassing for you, because you have no choice:
I swallowed my pride and phoned him.
⇨ a bitter pill (to swallow) at ↑ bitter 1 (7)
swallow somebody/something ↔ up phrasal verb
1 . if a company or country is swallowed up by a larger one, it becomes part of it and no longer exists on its own:
Hundreds of small companies have been swallowed up by these huge multinationals.
2 . written if something is swallowed up, it disappears because something covers it or hides it:
Jane was soon swallowed up in the crowd.
The countryside is gradually being swallowed up by new developments.
3 . if an amount of money is swallowed up, you have to spend it to pay for things:
The extra cash was soon swallowed up.
II. swallow 2 BrE AmE noun [countable]
[ Sense 1: Language: Old English ; Origin: swealwe ]
[ Sense 2: Date: 1800-1900 ; Origin: ⇨ ↑ swallow 1 ]
1 . a small black and white bird that comes to northern countries in the summer
2 . an action in which you make food or drink go down your throat:
He downed his whisky in one swallow.