[syn: accept, live with, swallow]
8. believe or accept without questioning or challenge;
- Example: "Am I supposed to swallow that story?"
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Swallow \Swal"low\, n. [OE. swalowe, AS. swalewe, swealwe; akin
to D. zwaluw, OHG. swalawa, G. schwalbe, Icel. & Sw. svala,
Dan. svale.]
1. (Zool.) Any one of numerous species of passerine birds of
the family Hirundinidae, especially one of those species
in which the tail is deeply forked. They have long,
pointed wings, and are noted for the swiftness and
gracefulness of their flight.
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Note: The most common North American species are the barn
swallow (see under Barn), the cliff, or eaves,
swallow (see under Cliff), the white-bellied, or
tree, swallow (Tachycineta bicolor), and the bank
swallow (see under Bank). The common European swallow
(Chelidon rustica), and the window swallow, or martin
(Chelidon urbica), are familiar species.
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2. (Zool.) Any one of numerous species of swifts which
resemble the true swallows in form and habits, as the
common American chimney swallow, or swift.
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3. (Naut.) The aperture in a block through which the rope
reeves. --Ham. Nav. Encyc.
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Swallow plover (Zool.), any one of several species of
fork-tailed ploverlike birds of the genus Glareola, as
Glareola orientalis of India; a pratincole.
Swallow shrike (Zool.), any one of several species of East
Indian and Asiatic birds of the family Artamiidae,
allied to the shrikes but similar to swallows in
appearance and habits. The ashy swallow shrike (Artamus
fuscus) is common in India.
Swallow warbler (Zool.), any one of numerous species of
East Indian and Australian singing birds of the genus
Dicaeum. They are allied to the honeysuckers.
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Swallow \Swal"low\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Swallowed; p. pr. &
vb. n. Swallowing.] [OE. swolewen, swolwen, swolhen, AS.
swelgan; akin to D. zwelgen, OHG. swelahan, swelgan, G.
schwelgen to feast, to revel, Icel. svelgia to swallow, SW.
sv[aum]lja, Dan. svaelge. Cf. Groundsel a plant.]
1. To take into the stomach; to receive through the gullet,
or esophagus, into the stomach; as, to swallow food or
drink.
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As if I had swallowed snowballs for pills. --Shak.
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2. To draw into an abyss or gulf; to ingulf; to absorb --
usually followed by up. --Milton.
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The earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up,
and their houses. --Num. xvi.
32.
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3. To receive or embrace, as opinions or belief, without
examination or scruple; to receive implicitly.
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Though that story . . . be not so readily swallowed.
--Sir T.
Browne.
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4. To engross; to appropriate; -- usually with up.
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Homer excels . . . in this, that he swallowed up the
honor of those who succeeded him. --Pope.
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5. To occupy; to take up; to employ.
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The necessary provision of the life swallows the
greatest part of their time. --Locke.
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6. To seize and waste; to exhaust; to consume.
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Corruption swallowed what the liberal hand
Of bounty scattered. --Thomson.
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7. To retract; to recant; as, to swallow one's opinions.
"Swallowed his vows whole." --Shak.
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8. To put up with; to bear patiently or without retaliation;
as, to swallow an affront or insult.
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Syn: To absorb; imbibe; ingulf; engross; consume. See
Absorb.
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Swallow \Swal"low\, v. i.
To perform the act of swallowing; as, his cold is so severe
he is unable to swallow.
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Swallow \Swal"low\, n.
1. The act of swallowing.
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2. The gullet, or esophagus; the throat.
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3. Taste; relish; inclination; liking. [Colloq.]
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I have no swallow for it. --Massinger.
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4. Capacity for swallowing; voracity.
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There being nothing too gross for the swallow of
political rancor. --Prof.
Wilson.
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5. As much as is, or can be, swallowed at once; as, a swallow
of water.
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6. That which ingulfs; a whirlpool. [Obs.] --Fabyan.
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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
swallow
n 1: a small amount of liquid food; "a sup of ale" [syn:
swallow, sup]
2: the act of swallowing; "one swallow of the liquid was
enough"; "he took a drink of his beer and smacked his lips"
[syn: swallow, drink, deglutition]
3: small long-winged songbird noted for swift graceful flight
and the regularity of its migrations
v 1: pass through the esophagus as part of eating or drinking;
"Swallow the raw fish--it won't kill you!" [syn: swallow,
get down]
2: engulf and destroy; "The Nazis swallowed the Baltic
countries"
3: enclose or envelop completely, as if by swallowing; "The huge
waves swallowed the small boat and it sank shortly
thereafter" [syn: immerse, swallow, swallow up, bury,
eat up]
4: utter indistinctly; "She swallowed the last words of her
speech"
5: take back what one has said; "He swallowed his words" [syn:
swallow, take back, unsay, withdraw]
6: keep from expressing; "I swallowed my anger and kept quiet"
7: tolerate or accommodate oneself to; "I shall have to accept
these unpleasant working conditions"; "I swallowed the
insult"; "She has learned to live with her husband's little
idiosyncrasies" [syn: accept, live with, swallow]
8: believe or accept without questioning or challenge; "Am I
supposed to swallow that story?"
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:
215 Moby Thesaurus words for "swallow":
abide, abjure, ablate, absorb, accede, accept, accept for gospel,
accept implicitly, acquiesce, allow, and sinker, antelope, arrow,
assent, assimilate, back down, back out, backwater, be a sucker,
be agreeable, be certain, be taken in, bear with, beard, believe,
believe without reservation, bite, bleed white, blue darter,
blue streak, bolus, brook, burn up, buy, cannonball, champ, chaw,
chew, chomp, climb down, comply, conquer, consent, consume,
control, courser, crawfish out, credit, cud, dart, deny, deplete,
devour, digest, disavow, disclaim, disown, dispatch, dispose of,
disregard, down, drain, drain of resources, drink, drinking, drop,
eagle, eat, eat crow, eat humble pie, eat up, eating, electricity,
endure, engorge, engorgement, engulf, engulfment, erode, exhaust,
expend, express train, face the music, fall for, finish,
finish off, flash, forswear, fumble, gazelle, get away with,
get down, give faith to, gnash, go, go along with, go for, gob,
gobble, gobble up, greased lightning, greyhound, gulp, gulp down,
gulping, guzzle, hare, ignore, imbibe, imbibition, impoverish,
ingest, ingestion, ingurgitate, ingurgitation, jet plane,
knock under, knuckle down, knuckle under, lap up, light, lightning,
line, live with it, mercury, morsel, mouthful, muddle, munch,
murmur, mutter, nibble, nip, not resist, obey, overcome, pack away,
pocket, pocket the affront, put away, put faith in, quaff,
quicksilver, quid, quilt, recant, receive, relent, renege,
renounce, repress, repudiate, resign, retract, revoke, rocket,
scared rabbit, set store by, shot, sip, slurp, smother, snap,
spend, squander, stand, stifle, stomach, streak,
streak of lightning, striped snake, submit, succumb, suck dry, sup,
suppress, surround, swallow an insult, swallow anything,
swallow hook, swallow it, swallow the pill, swallow up,
swallow whole, swallowing, swig, swill, swill down, swing at, take,
take back, take down, take for granted, take in, take it,
take on faith, take on trust, take stock in, take the bait,
thought, thunderbolt, tolerate, torrent, toss, trust, tuck in,
tumble for, turn aside provocation, unsay, use up, waste away,
wear away, wind, withdraw, wolf down
Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary:
Swallow
(1.) Heb. sis (Isa. 38:14; Jer. 8:7), the Arabic for the swift,
which "is a regular migrant, returning in myriads every spring,
and so suddenly that while one day not a swift can be seen in
the country, on the next they have overspread the whole land,
and fill the air with their shrill cry." The swift (cypselus) is
ordinarily classed with the swallow, which it resembles in its
flight, habits, and migration.
(2.) Heb. deror, i.e., "the bird of freedom" (Ps. 84:3; Prov.
26:2), properly rendered swallow, distinguished for its
swiftness of flight, its love of freedom, and the impossibility
of retaining it in captivity. In Isa. 38:14 and Jer. 8:7 the
word thus rendered ('augr) properly means "crane" (as in the
R.V.).