SWALLOW

I. noun Etymology: Middle English swalowe, from Old English swealwe; akin to Old High German swalawa ~ Date: before 12th century any of numerous small widely distributed oscine birds (family Hirundinidae, the ~ family) that have a short bill, long pointed wings, and often a deeply forked tail and that feed on insects caught on the wing, any of several birds that superficially resemble ~s, II. verb Etymology: Middle English swalowen, from Old English swelgan; akin to Old High German swelgan to ~ Date: before 12th century transitive verb to take through the mouth and esophagus into the stomach, to envelop or take in as if by ~ing ; absorb , to accept without question, protest, or resentment , take back , retract , to keep from expressing or showing ; repress , to utter (as words) indistinctly, intransitive verb to receive something into the body through the mouth and esophagus, to perform the action characteristic of ~ing something especially under emotional stress, ~able adjective ~er noun III. noun Date: 14th century the passage connecting the mouth to the stomach, a capacity for ~ing, 3. an act of ~ing, an amount that can be ~ed at one time