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Added 9 October 2026

swallow

/ˈswɒl.əʊ/ verb

In Latin: glūtiō, gluttiō, haurio Wiktionary

verb Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about swallow at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

To cause (food, drink etc.) to pass from the mouth into the stomach; to take into the stomach through the throat. .mw-parser-output .defdate{font-size:smaller}
To take (something) in so that it disappears; to consume, absorb.
death is swallowed up in victory
To take food down into the stomach; or to make muscular contractions of the oesophagus from nervousness or strong emotion.
My throat was so sore that I was unable to swallow.

noun

The amount swallowed in one gulp; the act of swallowing.
He took the aspirin with a single swallow of water.
A deep chasm or abyss in the earth.
The mouth and throat; that which is used for swallowing; the gullet.

noun

A small migratory bird of the family Hirundinidae with long, pointed wings and a forked tail which feeds on the wing by catching insects.
Any of a number of other species of birds previously or popularly called "swallow", such as the sea swallow.

Origin

From Middle English swolwen, from Old English swelgan, from Proto-West Germanic *swelgan, from Proto-Germanic *swelganą (“to swallow, revel, devour”), from Proto-Indo-European *swelk- (“to gulp”). Cognate with Dutch zwelgen (“to revel, carouse, guzzle”), German schwelgen (“to delight, indulge”), Danish svælge (“to swallow”), Norwegian Bokmål svelge (“to swallow”), Norwegian Nynorsk svelgje (“to swallow”), Swedish svälja (“to swallow, gulp”), Faroese svølgja (“to swallow”), Icelandic svelgja (“to swallow”), Old English swillan, swilian (“to swill, wash out, gargle”). See also swill.

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

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