swallow the dictionary
swallow the dictionary verb: to speak using long or obscure words.
Verb
swallow the dictionary (third-person singular simple present swallows the dictionary, present participle swallowing the dictionary, simple past and past participle swallowed the dictionary)
- To speak using long or obscure words.
- I swear, I don't know where you get all this swallowing the dictionary business!” - He himself never read anything but the ticker and the sporting news.1918, The Saturday Evening Post - Volume 190, page 5
- Knowledge is deposited in (virtual and real) libraries. People who “swallow” the dictionary are articulate, eloquent and verbally dextrous. They have a greater store of words. Knowledge is captured in books, which is why the number of books in a household contains an excellent index of the social...2011, Adrian Furnham, Managing People in a Downturn, →ISBN
Forms of swallow the dictionary
| third-person singular present | swallows the dictionary |
|---|---|
| present participle | swallowing the dictionary |
| past participle | swallowed the dictionary |
| past | swallowed the dictionary |
Questions about swallow the dictionary
- What does swallow the dictionary mean?
- Swallow the dictionary means to speak using long or obscure words.
- What part of speech is swallow the dictionary?
- Swallow the dictionary is a verb.
- What is the past tense of swallow the dictionary?
- The past tense of swallow the dictionary is swallowed the dictionary.
Words near swallow the dictionary in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: swallow the dictionary (page history and authors). 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.
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