swallow
verb/ˈswɒləʊ/
/ˈswɑːləʊ/
Verb Forms
Idioms | present simple I / you / we / they swallow | /ˈswɒləʊ/ /ˈswɑːləʊ/ |
| he / she / it swallows | /ˈswɒləʊz/ /ˈswɑːləʊz/ |
| past simple swallowed | /ˈswɒləʊd/ /ˈswɑːləʊd/ |
| past participle swallowed | /ˈswɒləʊd/ /ˈswɑːləʊd/ |
| -ing form swallowing | /ˈswɒləʊɪŋ/ /ˈswɑːləʊɪŋ/ |
- [transitive, intransitive] to make food, drink, etc. go down your throat into your stomach
- swallow (something) Always chew food well before swallowing it.
- I had a sore throat and it hurt to swallow.
- swallow something + adj. The pills should be swallowed whole.
Extra Examples- Liquid food may be more easily swallowed.
- Most snakes swallow their prey whole.
- She accidentally swallowed a glass bead.
- She swallowed down her breakfast in a hurry.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverb- hastily
- quickly
- accidentally
- …
- swallow something whole
Definitions on the go
Look up any word in the dictionary offline, anytime, anywhere with the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary app.
- [intransitive] to move the muscles of your throat as if you were swallowing something, especially because you are nervous
- She swallowed hard and told him the bad news.
Extra Examples- He swallowed back the lump in his throat.
- She swallowed convulsively, determined not to cry.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverb- deeply
- hard
- convulsively
- …
- have difficulty swallowing
- have trouble swallowing
- [transitive, often passive] to take somebody/something in or completely cover them/it so that they/it cannot be seen or exist separately any longer
- swallow somebody/something I watched her walk down the road until she was swallowed by the darkness.
- swallow somebody/something up Large areas of countryside have been swallowed up by towns.
- [transitive] swallow somebody/something (up) to use up something completely, especially an amount of money
- Most of my salary gets swallowed (up) by the rent and bills.
- [transitive] to accept that something is true; to believe something
- swallow something I found her excuse very hard to swallow.
- swallow something + adj. He told her a pack of lies, but she swallowed it whole.
- [transitive] swallow something to hide your feelings
- to swallow your doubts
- You're going to have to swallow your pride and ask for your job back.
- [transitive] swallow something to accept offensive remarks, criticisms, etc. without complaining or protesting
- I was surprised that he just sat there and swallowed all their remarks.
food/drink
move throat muscles
completely cover
use up money
believe
feelings
accept insults
Word Originverb Old English swelgan, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch zwelgen and German schwelgen.
Idioms
See swallow in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee swallow in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic Englisha bitter pill (for somebody) (to swallow)
- a fact or an event that is unpleasant and difficult to accept
- The election defeat was a bitter pill for the party to swallow.
like the cat that got/ate/swallowed the canary (US English)
(British English like a cat that’s got the cream)
- very pleased with yourself synonym smug
- She looked like the cat that’s swallowed the canary. She was almost purring with pleasure.
Check pronunciation:
swallow