v. 1 eat, consume, devour, ingest, dispatch or despatch; drink, gulp, guzzle, down, Colloq put or pack away, swig, swill Snakes swallow their prey whole The amount that man can swallow at one meal is incredible. 2 accept, allow, credit, believe, take, Colloq buy, fall for She swallowed that tale about an aeroplane hook, line, and sinker 3 Often, swallow up. absorb, make disappear, engulf, consume, assimilate The fugitive was swallowed up by the crowd 4 Sometimes, swallow back. keep or choke back or down, repress, suppress, control, stifle, smother, overcome, conquer Harriet swallowed back the tears Try swallowing your pride just this once.
n. 5 bite, nibble, morsel, mouthful; drink, gulp, guzzle, Colloq swig Have a swallow of this to warm you up a little