absorb
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /əbˈzɔːb/
ipa: /əbˈsɔːb/
ipa: /æbˈsɔɹb/
ipa: /æbˈzɔɹb/
ipa: /əbˈsɔɹb/
ipa: /əbˈzɔɹb/
rhymes: -ɔː(ɹ)b
Forms: form: absorbs
form: absorbing
form: absorbed
form: absorbed
form: absorpt
form: absorpt
form: no-table-tags
form: glossary
form: absorb
form: absorb
form: absorbed
form: absorb
form: absorbest
form: absorbed
form: absorbedst
form: absorbs
form: absorbeth
form: absorbed
form: absorb
form: absorbed
form: absorb
form: absorbed
form: absorb
form: -
form: absorbing
form: absorbed
Etymology: From Middle French absorber, from Old French assorbir, from Latin absorbeō (“swallow up”), from ab- (“from”) + sorbeō (“suck in, swallow”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *srebʰ- (“to sip”). Compare French absorber.
Senses: examples: text: Dark oblivion soon absorbs them all.
ref: 1782, William Cowper, On Observing some Names of Little Note:
text: In some countries, the large cities absorb the wealth and fashion of the nation; they are the only fixed abodes of elegant and intelligent society, and the country is inhabited almost entirely by boorish peasantry.
ref: 1819 July 31, Geoffrey Crayon [pseudonym; Washington Irving], “Rural Life in England”, in The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent., number II, New York, N.Y.: […] C[ornelius] S. Van Winkle, […], →OCLC, page 124:
text: As a microbullet impacts the graphene, the diameter of the cone it creates – determined by later examination of the petals – provides a way to measure how much energy the graphene absorbs before breaking.
ref: 2014 December 1, Mike Williams, “Microbullet hits confirm graphene’s strength”, in Rice University:
text: Wages absorbed 80% of the total revenue (which was inescapable), and they were rising at almost twice the rate of fares, which were pegged by law.
ref: 2023 March 8, Howard Johnston, “Was Marples the real railway wrecker?”, in RAIL, number 978, page 51:
glosses: To include so that it no longer has separate existence; to overwhelm; to cause to disappear as if by swallowing up; to incorporate; to assimilate; to take in and use up.
examples: text: to be absorpt, or swallowed up, in a lake of fire and brimstone.
ref: 1684-1690, Thomas Burnet, The Sacred Theory of the Earth:
glosses: To engulf, as in water; to swallow up.
glosses: To suck up; to drink in; to imbibe, like a sponge or as the lacteals of the body; to chemically take in.
examples: text: The drops of water slowly absorbed into the dry sponge.
glosses: To be absorbed, or sucked in; to sink in.
examples: text: Heat, light, and electricity are absorbed in the substances into which they pass.
topics: chemistry
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
physics
glosses: To take in energy and convert it.
topics: chemistry
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
physics
glosses: To take in energy and convert it.
in receiving a physical impact or vibration without recoil.
topics: chemistry
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
physics
glosses: To take in energy and convert it.
in receiving sound energy without repercussion or echo.
topics: chemistry
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
physics
glosses: To take in energy and convert it.
taking in radiant energy and converting it to a different form of energy, like heat.
examples: text: Geeka was cooking dinner. As the little girl played she prattled continuously to her companion, propped in a sitting position with a couple of twigs. She was totally absorbed in the domestic duties of Geeka – so much so that she did not note the gentle swaying of the branches of the tree above her as they bent to the body of the creature that had entered them stealthily from the jungle.
ref: 1915 December 4 – 1916 January 8, Edgar Rice Burroughs, chapter VIII, in The Son of Tarzan, Chicago, Ill.: A[lexander] C[aldwell] McClurg & Co., published March 1917, →OCLC, page 103:
text: Livonian affairs held him tight, and were to absorb him for many a year.
ref: 1904, Kazimierz Waliszewski, translated by Lady Mary Loyd, Ivan the Terrible, Part 2 Chapter 3:
glosses: To engross or engage wholly; to occupy fully.
glosses: To occupy or consume time.
examples: text: If we fail to absorb the lessons of history, we are doomed to repeat them.
glosses: To assimilate mentally.
examples: text: Among the most debatable is the contention that the profit margins of small employers are insufficient to absorb the costs of health insurance
ref: 2006, Gunnar Almgren, Health Care Politics, Policy, and Services: A Social Justice Analysis:
topics: business
glosses: To assume or pay for as part of a commercial transaction.
examples: text: I’ll absorb the charge for the window replacement.
synonyms: eat
glosses: To defray the costs.
glosses: To accept or purchase in quantity.
Synonyms: sense: to include so that it no longer has separate existence
word: assimilate
sense: to include so that it no longer has separate existence
word: engulf
sense: to include so that it no longer has separate existence
word: incorporate
sense: to include so that it no longer has separate existence
word: swallow up
sense: to include so that it no longer has separate existence
word: overwhelm
sense: to suck up or drink in
word: draw
sense: to suck up or drink in
word: drink in
sense: to suck up or drink in
word: imbibe
sense: to suck up or drink in
word: soak up
sense: to suck up or drink in
word: sop up
sense: to suck up or drink in
word: suck
sense: to suck up or drink in
word: suck up
sense: to suck up or drink in
word: steep
sense: to suck up or drink in
word: take in
sense: to suck up or drink in
word: take up
sense: to consume completely
word: use up
sense: to occupy fully
word: engage
sense: to occupy fully
word: engross
sense: to occupy fully
word: immerse
sense: to occupy fully
word: monopolize
sense: to occupy fully
word: occupy
sense: finance: to assume or pay for
word: assume
word: bear
word: pay for
word: take in
Derived terms: absorbability
absorbable
absorbance
absorbate
absorbefacient
absorbent
absorb oneself in
absorption
bioabsorb
misabsorb
overabsorb
preabsorb
reabsorb
X-ray absorbing glass
Related terms: adsorb