swallow

Formsswallows, swallowing, swallowed

Pluralswallows

1. 1
   verbtransitive

   To cause food, drink, or another substance to pass from the mouth through the throat into the stomach; also, to make this throat movement without food, often as a sign of nervousness or strong emotion.

   She swallowed the last of her coffee and grabbed her coat.

   Chew your food properly before you swallow it.

2. 2
   birdnouncountable

   A small migratory bird of the family Hirundinidae, with long, pointed, crescent-shaped wings and a forked tail, that feeds on insects caught in flight.

   The first swallow of spring skimmed the pond at dusk.

   Swallows gather on the wires in September before the long flight to Africa.

   Note

   The bird has its own word, one that only happens to share the verb's spelling. It comes from Old English swealwe and has close relatives across Germanic: German Schwalbe, Dutch zwaluw, Danish and Norwegian svale, Swedish svala. Nothing in its history connects it with gulping, so the bird and the throat meet only by coincidence of sound. Source

   Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 4 facts

   • The bird noun and swallowing verb have separate histories; their shared modern form is coincidental, as inferred from their distinct etymologies. en.wiktionary.org
   • The bird noun descends from Old English swealwe. en.wiktionary.org
   • Its Germanic cognates include German Schwalbe, Dutch zwaluw, Danish and Norwegian svale, and Swedish svala. en.wiktionary.org
   • The bird's recorded etymology supplies no connection with gulping; the sound coincidence follows from the separate histories. en.wiktionary.org
3. 3
   verbtransitive

   To take something in, use it up, or absorb it so completely that it disappears or no longer exists separately; often with up, as when a larger body takes over a smaller one.

   Long commutes swallow two hours of her day.

   The jungle had swallowed the old road within a decade.

   UsageOften in the passive, swallowed by the sea; adding up, as in swallow up, stresses that nothing is left over.

   Similarconsume, engulf, absorb, devour

   Note

   Here the eater is something large, and what it takes in simply vanishes: time into the business of living, a body into the ocean, a wreck into the seabed.

4. 4
   verbtransitive

   To accept a claim credulously and without challenge; to believe.

   Most newspapers swallowed whole the railway's estimate of the cost.

   Voters swallow a tale like that because they want to, not because it holds up.

   UsageOften swallow a story whole. It usually suggests the claim did not deserve to be believed.

   Similarbuy, credit

   Oppositedoubt, question, reject

5. 5
   one throat movementnouncountable or uncountable

   An instance of moving something from the mouth down the throat, or the amount moved in this way at one time.

   After a long swallow from his canteen, the hiker felt ready to keep climbing.

   A hard swallow was the only sign of what the news cost him.

   Similargulp, mouthful, sip, swig

6. 6
   put up withverbtransitive

   To endure something quietly, holding back from retaliation.

   The junior partner swallowed the affront rather than lose the account.

   Some criticisms you simply swallow and move on.

   UsageUsually with an insult or criticism: swallow an insult. With a story as the object, swallow means believe it instead.

   Similarendure, accept, bear, tolerate, stand

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