swallow

UK/ˈswɒl.əʊ/

More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations

Northumbria/ˈswɒl.ə/

swallow verb: to cause (food, drink etc.) to pass from the mouth into the stomach; to take into the stomach through the throat.

Image: Daniel Pettersson, CC BY-SA 2.5 se, via Wikimedia Commons

Verb

swallow (third-person singular simple present swallows, present participle swallowing, simple past and past participle swallowed)

(transitive) To cause (food, drink etc.) to pass from the mouth into the stomach; to take into the stomach through the throat.
- What the liquor was I do not know, but it was not so strong but that I could swallow it in great gulps and found it less burning than my burning throat.[1898], J[ohn] Meade Falkner, Moonfleet, London; Toronto, Ont.: Jonathan Cape, published 1934, →OCLC
- Clothes are to be worn and food is to be swallowed: they remain trapped in the physical world.2011 April 21, Jonathan Jones, The Guardian
Synonyms:

consume, devour, eat, gulp
(transitive) To take (something) in so that it disappears; to consume, absorb.
- The necessary provision of the life swallows the greatest part of their time.a. 1705, John Locke, “Of the Conduct of the Understanding”, in Posthumous Works of Mr. John Locke: […], London: […] A[wnsham] and J[ohn] Churchill, […], published 1706, →OCLC
- His body, like so many others swallowed by the ocean's hungry maw, was never found.2010 October 28, “What are the wild waves saying”, in The Economist
Synonyms:

absorb, engulf, incorporate, swallow up, add on, assimilate, co-opt, corporate, incorpse, integrate
(intransitive) To take food down into the stomach; to make the muscular contractions of the oesophagus to achieve this, often taken as a sign of nervousness or strong emotion.
- My throat was so sore that I was unable to swallow.
- She swallowed nervously then, appearing near sick with what she had to say.1979, VC Andrews, Flowers in the Attic
Synonyms:

gulp
(transitive) To accept easily or without questions; to believe, accept.
- this humbug was readily swallowed by men who were supposed to be intelligent,1920, Romain Rolland, translated by Katherine Miller, Clerambault
- Most newspapers we saw swallowed whole an S.R. estimate that it would cost £20m to equip the Region with point heaters.1962 March, “Lessons of the Freeze-up”, in Modern Railways, page 146
Synonyms:

buy, credit
(intransitive) To engross; to appropriate; usually with up.
- Homer excels […] in this, that he swallowed up the honour of those who succeeded him.1715–1720, Homer, “Book preface”, in Alexander Pope, transl., The Iliad of Homer, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: […] W[illiam] Bowyer, for Bernard Lintott […], →OCLC
Synonyms:

absorb, monopolize, occupy, take over
(transitive) To retract; to recant.
- to swallow one's opinions
- Left her in her tears, and dried not one of them with his comfort; swallowed his vows wholec. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Measure for Measure”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
Synonyms:

disavow, take back, abjure, backpedal, disown, eat one's words, recall, recant, retract, revoke
(transitive) To put up with; to bear patiently or without retaliation.
- to swallow an affront or insult
Synonyms:

endure, live with, abear, abide, aby, accept, allow, bear, bide, brook
(euphemistic, slang, vulgar) To swallow semen after oral sex, as opposed to spitting it out.
- Was she straight or was she gay? Did she spit or swallow? Was she smooth or hairy down there? Questions, questions.2009 May 2, Teejay LeCapois, Fight Evil With Evil, Lulu.com, →ISBN, page 333
- "Look, a man like me only wants three things out of life." Frank ticked them off on the fingers of his right hand. “A wife that can cook, a girlfriend who swallows, and a steady stream of non-taxable income."2012 December 1, Tim Maleeny, Greasing the Piñata, Bloomsbury Publishing, →ISBN

Noun (1)

swallow (countable and uncountable, plural swallows)

The amount swallowed in one gulp; the act of swallowing.
- He took the aspirin with a single swallow of water.
- She took a swallow of milk and made a face. "This milk is blinky."1978, Tom Reamy, Blind Voices
(archaic) A deep chasm or abyss in the earth.
(archaic) The mouth and throat; that which is used for swallowing; the gullet.
- The door burst wide open, and he saw nothing but a gaping jaw extending from the threshold up to the lintel. "There is a mouthful for you," said the youngster, and threw the pauper boy into the swallow; "taste that! But let me see now who you are! Perhaps you are an old acquaintance?" And so it...1886, Peter Christen Asbjø￵rnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 103
The opening in a pulley block between the sheave and shell through which the rope passes.
- In addition, j-lock shackles can pass through the swallow of a modern genoa track even with a sheet in tension already there, and this is very useful when preparing a sail change on the same tack.2008, Danilo Fabbroni, Rigging: Rig Your Boat Right for Racing or Cruising
- Blocks are made in a great variety of patterns. All are designed to be used one way. The rope goes through the swallow.2012, Percy W. Blandford, Practical Knots and Ropework, page 350
(Nigeria) Any of various carbohydrate-based dishes that are swallowed without much chewing, commonly paired and eaten with various types of soup.

Noun (2)

swallow (plural swallows)

A small, migratory bird of the Hirundinidae family with long, pointed, moon-shaped wings and a forked tail which feeds on the wing by catching insects.

Synonyms:

martin

Proper noun capitalized: Swallow

Swallow (countable and uncountable, plural Swallows)

A surname.
A village and civil parish in West Lindsey district, Lincolnshire, England (OS grid ref TA1703).

swallow meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

swallow in Hindi

to cause to pass from the mouth into the stomach: निगलना nigalnā
bird: अबाबील abābīl

swallow in Tamil

to cause to pass from the mouth into the stomach: விழுங்கு viḻuṅku, முழுங்கு muḻuṅku
bird: தகைவிலான்கள் takaivilāṉkaḷ

swallow in Urdu

to cause to pass from the mouth into the stomach: نگلنا nigalnā
bird: ابابیل abābīl

More languagesFewer languages

swallow in Bengali: গেলা gela, আবাবিল ababil
swallow in Telugu: తిను tinu, మింగు miṅgu
swallow in Malayalam: വിഴുങ്ങുക viḻuṅṅuka, ഭക്ഷിക്കുക bhakṣikkuka
swallow in Kannada: ಕವಲುತೋಕೆ ಹಕ್ಕಿ kavalutōke hakki
swallow in Punjabi: ਗਿੱਲ ਕਰੋ
swallow in Gujarati: ગળવું gaḷvũ
swallow in Odia: ଗିଳି ନିଅନ୍ତୁ, ଗିଳିଦିଅନ୍ତୁ
swallow in Sanskrit: गिरति girati
swallow in Assamese: গিলা gila
swallow in Nepali: निल्नु nilnu
swallow in Tagalog: lunok, lumod, layanglayang
swallow in Arabic: جَرَعَ jaraʕa, بَلَعَ balaʕa, سَرَطَ saraṭa, اِزْدَرَدَ izdarada
swallow in Malay: telan, menelan
swallow in Indonesian: menelan, menenggak
swallow in Persian: بلعیدن bal'idan, اوباردن obârdan, فرو بردن foru bordan, پرستو parastu
swallow in Thai: กลืน glʉʉn, นางแอ่น, อีแอ่น
swallow in Vietnamese: nuốt, nhạn, én
swallow in Myanmar: မျို myui

Examples of swallow in a sentence

Be careful of the Commie Lies / swallow them and freedom dies / The USA must realize / that she's the biggest prize.1965, “Commie Lies”, in Fascist Threat / Commie Lies, performed by Janet Greene:
Americans swallowed his tale because they wanted to.2011 April 22, Madeleine Bunting, The Guardian:
"Here is my little girlfriend who swallows, want to see her naked?"2015 January 13, Victoria Hirschfield, Inconception The Book, Lulu.com, →ISBN, page 38:
"There is a mouthful for you," said the youngster, and threw the pauper boy into the swallow; "taste that!1886, Peter Christen Asbjø￵rnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 103:

All 40 example sentences with swallow

Synonyms of swallow

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All synonyms of swallow

Forms of swallow

Verb
third-person singular present	swallows
present participle	swallowing
past participle	swallowed
past	swallowed
alternative form (obsolete)	swalow
alternative form (obsolete)	swolow
Noun
plural	swallows
Proper noun
plural	Swallows

Past tense of swallow: swallowed

Plural of swallow: swallows

Origin of swallow

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. The noun is from Middle English swolow, swolwe, from Old English swelh, swelg (“gulf, chasm”) and ġeswelge (“gulf, chasm, abyss, whirlpool”), both from Proto-West Germanic *swelg, *swalgi, from Proto-Germanic *swelgaz, *swalgiz. Cognate with Old English swiliġe (“pit”), Scots swelch, swellie, swallie (“an abyss in the sea, whirpool”), Middle Low German swelch (“whirlpool, eddy”), Dutch zwelg (“gorge, chasm, gullet, throat”), Old Norse svelgr (“whirlpool, current, stream”).

From Middle English swalwe, swalewe, swalowe, from Old English swealwe, from Proto-West Germanic *swalwā, from Proto-Germanic *swalwǭ. Cognate with Norwegian and Danish svale, Dutch zwaluw, German Schwalbe, Swedish svala.

* As an English surname, from the noun swallow (sense 2). * Also as an English surname, from Swallow in Lincolnshire, named after its river. The placename itself could be related to the verb swell, or related to the name of the river Swale.

Words formed from swallow

Phrases with swallow

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Words that rhyme with swallow

Questions about swallow

What does swallow mean?: Swallow means to cause (food, drink etc.) to pass from the mouth into the stomach; to take into the stomach through the throat.
What is swallow in Hindi?: Swallow in Hindi is निगलना (nigalnā), अबाबील (abābīl). See Swallow meaning in Hindi.
How do you use swallow in a sentence?: Be careful of the Commie Lies / swallow them and freedom dies / The USA must realize / that she's the biggest prize.
What part of speech is swallow?: Swallow can be a verb, a noun or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce swallow?: Swallow is pronounced /ˈswɒl.əʊ/ (UK).
What is the past tense of swallow?: The past tense of swallow is swallowed.

Words near swallow in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: swallow (page history and authors); Swallow (page history and authors); गिळणे (Marathi) (page history and authors); ഭക്ഷിക്കുക (Malayalam) (page history and authors); swallow (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); ગળવું (Gujarati) (page history and authors); swallow (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-swallow.ogg.

Cite this entry: “swallow.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/swallow. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.