swallow

swal|low¹ S3 [ˈswɔləu US ˈswa:lou] v

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1¦(food)¦

2¦(nervously)¦

3¦(believe/accept)¦

4¦(feelings)¦

5 swallow your pride

Phrasal verbs

　swallow somebody/something<=>up

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[: Old English; Origin: swelgan]

1.) ¦(FOOD)¦ [I and T]

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)¦

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)¦ [T] [i]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)¦ [T]

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 ↑bitter¹ (7)

swallow up [swallow sb/sth<=>up] phr v

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.

swallow ²

swallow² n

[Sense: 1; Origin: Old English swealwe]

[Sense: 2; Date: 1800-1900; Origin: SWALLOW¹]

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.