# swallow
## English
### Pronunciation

* (Received Pronunciation) IPA: /ˈswɒl.əʊ/
* (General American, dialects of Canada) IPA: /ˈswɑ.loʊ/, [ˈswɑ.loʊ̯]
** Audio (California):(file)
* (Philadelphia) IPA: [ˈswɑ.wɜʊ̯]
* Rhymes: -ɒləʊ

### Etymology 1

From Middle English swolowen, swolwen, swolȝen, swelwen, swelȝen, 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”), Swedish svälja (“to swallow, gulp”), Icelandic svelgja (“to swallow”), Old English swillan, swilian (“to swill, wash out, gargle”). See also swill.
The noun is from Middle English swelwe, 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”).

#### Alternative forms

* swalow, swolow (obsolete)

#### 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. [from 11th c.]
    Synonyms: consume, devour, eat, gulp
** [1898], J[ohn] Meade Falkner, Moonfleet, London; Toronto, Ont.: Jonathan Cape, published 1934, →OCLC: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.
** 2011 April 21, Jonathan Jones, The Guardian:Clothes are to be worn and food is to be swallowed: they remain trapped in the physical world.
* (transitive) To take (something) in so that it disappears; to consume, absorb. [from 13th c.]
    Synonyms: absorb, engulf, incorporate, swallow up; see also Thesaurus:integrate
** 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:The necessary provision of the life swallows the greatest part of their time.
** 2010 October 28, “What are the wild waves saying”, in The Economist:His body, like so many others swallowed by the ocean's hungry maw, was never found.
** 2020 November 11, Drachinifel, 25:13 from the start, in The Salvage of Pearl Harbor Pt 1 - The Smoke Clears‎, archived from the original on 22 October 2022:Elsewhere still, they'd managed to find the wreck of a Japanese midget submarine, and so, when the battleships were done being swallowed by the seabed, some efforts were being made to haul this up as well.
* (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. [from 18th c.]
    Synonym: gulp
    My throat was so sore that I was unable to swallow.
** 1979, VC Andrews, Flowers in the Attic:She swallowed nervously then, appearing near sick with what she had to say.
* (transitive) To accept easily or without questions; to believe, accept. [from 16th c.]
    Synonyms: buy, credit
** 1920, Romain Rolland, translated by Katherine Miller, Clerambault:this humbug was readily swallowed by men who were supposed to be intelligent,
** 1962 March, “Lessons of the Freeze-up”, in Modern Railways, page 146:Most newspapers we saw swallowed whole an S.R. estimate that it would cost £20m to equip the Region with point heaters.
** 2011 April 22, Madeleine Bunting, The Guardian:Americans swallowed his tale because they wanted to.
* (intransitive) To engross; to appropriate; usually with up.
    Synonyms: absorb, monopolize, occupy, take over
** 1715–1720, Homer, translated by Alexander Pope, “Book preface”, in The Iliad of Homer, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: […] W[illiam] Bowyer, for Bernard Lintott […], →OCLC:Homer excels […] in this, that he swallowed up the honour of those who succeeded him.
* (transitive) To retract; to recant.
    Synonyms: disavow, take back; see also Thesaurus:recant
    to swallow one's opinions
** c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Measure for Measure”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene i]:Left her in her tears, and dried not one of them with his comfort; swallowed his vows whole
* (transitive) To put up with; to bear patiently or without retaliation.
    Synonyms: endure, live with; see also Thesaurus:tolerate
    to swallow an affront or insult

##### Derived terms

* bitter pill to swallow
* difficult pill to swallow
* hard pill to swallow
* hard to swallow
* look like one swallowed a bug
* pill to swallow
* swallowable
* swallow down
* swallow one's pride
* swallow one's words
* swallow the anchor
* swallow the dictionary
* swallow the leek
* swallow up
* tough pill to swallow

##### Translations

Afrikaans: sluk (af)
Akan: men
Aklanon: tueon
Albanian: kapërdij (sq), gëlltit (sq), gëlltis
Arabic: جَرَعَ (jaraʕa), بَلَعَ (balaʕa), سَرَطَ (saraṭa), اِزْدَرَدَ (izdarada)
Moroccan Arabic: سرط (sraṭ), بلع (blaʕ)
Armenian: կուլ տալ (kul tal)
Aromanian: ngljit, ãngljit, bucusescu, dispishescu
Assamese: গিলা (gila)
Asturian: tragar
Azerbaijani: udmaq (az)
Bashkir: йотоу (yotow)
Basque: irentsi, irents
Belarusian: каўта́ць impf (kaŭtácʹ), глыта́ць (be) impf (hlytácʹ)
Bengali: গেলা (bn) (gela)
Bikol Central: halon (bcl)
Bislama: solem
Breton: lonka
Bulgarian: гъ́лтам (bg) impf (gǎ́ltam)
Burmese: မျို (my) (myui)
Catalan: engolir (ca), enviar (ca) (Balearic Islands), empassar (ca)
Cebuano: tulon
Cherokee: ᎠᎩᏍᎦ (agisga)
Chickasaw: nannabli
Chinese:
Cantonese: 吞 (tan$^1$), 吞落肚 (tan$^1$ lok$^6$ tou$^5$)
Mandarin: 吞 (zh) (tūn), 咽 (zh) (yàn), 吞嚥 / 吞咽 (zh) (tūnyàn)
Coptic: ⲱⲙⲕ (ōmk)
Crimean Tatar: yutmaq
Czech: polykat (cs) impf, polknout (cs) pf, spolknout (cs) pf
Danish: sluge (da), synke (da)
Dutch: slikken (nl), doorslikken (nl)
Egyptian: (ꜥm)
Esperanto: gluti (eo)
Estonian: neelama
Even: нимӈэ- (ņimŋə-)
Evenki: нимңэ-
Finnish: niellä (fi), nielaista (fi)
French: avaler (fr)
Friulian: gloti
Fwâi: thevhî
Galician: tragar
Georgian: ყლაპავს (q̇laṗavs), ყლაპვა (q̇laṗva)
German: schlucken (de)
Alemannic German: schlucke
Greek: καταπίνω (el) (katapíno)
Ancient: καταπίνω (katapínō)
Hebrew: בָּלַע (he) (balá)
Hindi: निगलना (hi) (nigalnā)
Hungarian: nyel (hu), lenyel (hu) bekap (hu)
Icelandic: kyngja, gleypa (is)
Ido: glutar (io)
Indonesian: menelan (id), menenggak (id)
Ingrian: lainata, liukata, luikata
Interlingua: glutir, inglutir, deglutir, ingurgitar
Irish: slog
Italian: inghiottire (it), ingerire (it), mandare giù, ingoiare (it)
Japanese: 嚥下する (ja) (えんげする, enge suru), 飲み込む (ja) (のみこむ, nomikomu)
Javanese: ulu, leg
Jawe: cevi
Kapampangan: akmul
Kazakh: жұту (jūtu)
Khmer: លេប (km) (leip)
Kongo: kumina
Korean: 삼키다 (ko) (samkida)
Kurdish:
Northern Kurdish: daqurtandin (ku), daûrandin (ku), dabilandin (ku)
Kyrgyz: жутуу (ky) (jutuu)
Lao: ກືນ (lo) (kư̄n)
Latgalian: reit
Latin: glūtiō, gluttiō, haurio
Latvian: rīt (lv)
Lithuanian: ryti
Macedonian: го́лта impf (gólta), про́голта pf (prógolta)
Malagasy: mitroka (mg)
Malay: telan (ms), menelan
Maltese: bela’, bala’
Mansaka: lamon
Minangkabau: lapah (min)
Mongolian: залгих (mn) (zalgix)
Muong: đóch
Nanai: лунгбэ- (luŋbe-)
Nemi: temi, tepmi
Nepali: निल्नु (nilnu)
Ngazidja Comorian: umiza
Norwegian:
Bokmål: svelge (no)
Nynorsk: svelgje
Occitan: engolir (oc)
Old East Slavic: глътати impf (glŭtati)
Oromo: liqimsuu
Persian: بلعیدن (fa) (bal'idan), اوباردن (fa) (obârdan) (literary), فرو بردن (fa) (foru bordan)
Pije: tephî
Polish: połykać (pl) impf, połknąć (pl) pf
Portuguese: engolir (pt), deglutir
Quechua: millp'uy
Romanian: înghiți (ro)
Russian: глота́ть (ru) impf (glotátʹ), проглоти́ть (ru) pf (proglotítʹ), глотну́ть (ru) pf (glotnútʹ)
Sanskrit: गिरति (sa) (girati)
Scots: swallie
Scottish Gaelic: sluig
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: гу̀тати impf, прогу̀тати pf
Roman: gùtati (sh) impf, progùtati (sh) pf
Slovak: hltať impf
Slovene: goltati impf, pogoltniti (sl) pf, požirati impf, požreti pf
Somali: liqid
Spanish: tragar (es) (common use), engullir (es) (hastily and without chewing), deglutir (es) (formal), ingurgitar (es), gandir (es) (chew and swallow)
Sranan Tongo: swari
Swahili: kumeza (sw)
Swedish: svälja (sv)
Tagalog: lunok, lumod (tl)
Tajik: фурӯ бурдан (furü burdan)
Tamil: விழுங்கு (ta) (viḻuṅku), முழுங்கு (muḻuṅku) (colloquial variant)
Tatar: йоту (yotu)
Telugu: మింగు (te) (miṅgu)
Tetum: tolan
Thai: กลืน (th) (glʉʉn)
Tibetan: མིད་ཁྱུར (mid khyur)
Tocharian B: nuk-
Turkish: yutmak (tr)
Turkmen: ýuwutmak
Ukrainian: ковта́ти (uk) impf (kovtáty), глита́ти impf (hlytáty)
Urdu: نگلنا (nigalnā)
Uyghur: يۇتماق (yutmaq)
Uzbek: yutmoq (uz), yutinmoq (uz)
Vietnamese: nuốt (vi)
Vili: mina
Walloon: avaler (wa), houmer (wa) (entire crude egg), goirdjî (wa) (with preposition "dins" or "divins")
Welsh: llyncu (cy)
White Hmong: nqos
Yiddish: שלינגען (shlingen)
Zazaki: ro'qulotnaene
Zhuang: ndwnj, gyan :

#### Noun

swallow (countable and uncountable, plural swallows)
* (archaic) A deep chasm or abyss in the earth.
* (archaic) The mouth and throat; that which is used for swallowing; the gullet.
** 1886, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 103: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 was; it was the devil who was about again.
* The amount swallowed in one gulp; the act of swallowing.
    He took the aspirin with a single swallow of water.
** 1978, Tom Reamy, Blind Voices:She took a swallow of milk and made a face. "This milk is blinky."
* (nautical) The opening in a pulley block between the sheave and shell through which the rope passes.
** 2008, Danilo Fabbroni, Rigging: Rig Your Boat Right for Racing or Cruising: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.
** 2012, Percy W. Blandford, Practical Knots and Ropework, page 350:Blocks are made in a great variety of patterns. All are designed to be used one way. The rope goes through the swallow.
** 2012, H.G. Hasler, J.K. McLeod, Practical Junk Rig, page 171:When specifying blocks, excessive friction is avoided by ensuring (a) that the diameter of the sheave is at least twice the circumference of the rope or six times its diameter (preferably more), and (b) that the 'swallow' of the block is substantially wider than the diameter of the rope, to avoid rubbing against the inside of the cheeks.
* (Nigeria) Any of various carbohydrate-based dishes that are swallowed without much chewing.

##### Derived terms

* swallow hole

##### Translations
#### See also

* dysphagia

### Etymology 2

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

#### Noun

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

* (bird of Hirundinidae): martin

##### Derived terms

* American cliff swallow
* bank swallow
* barn swallow
* blue swallow
* bridge swallow
* cave swallow
* Chilean swallow
* chimney swallow
* cliff swallow
* esculent swallow
* mosque swallow
* one swallow does not make a summer
* red-rumped swallow
* river swallow
* sea swallow
* swallow a bitter pill
* swallow dive
* swallow-tail
* swallow-tailed
* swallow tanager
* swallow-wort
* violet-green swallow
* welcome swallow
* window swallow

##### Related terms

* (bird of Hirundinidae): martlet (type of feetless bird in heraldry)

##### Translations
### Anagrams

* wallows