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 ” ) .
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
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 [1] , 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
( 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
to cause to pass from the mouth into the stomach
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 ( tan1 ) , 吞落肚 ( tan1 lok6 tou5 )
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
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) ( in common case with very hungry ) , deglutir (es) ( formal ) , ingurgitar (es)
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)
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
to take in, to consume
Albanian: përpij (sq)
Bikol Central: halon (bcl)
Bulgarian: поглъщам (bg) ( poglǎštam )
Chickasaw: nannabli
Czech: spolknout (cs) pf ( informal )
Esperanto: gluti (eo) , engluti
Finnish: niellä (fi)
French: avaler (fr)
German: verschlucken (de)
Hungarian: elnyel (hu) , bekebelez (hu) , bekap (hu)
Irish:
Old Irish: sluicid
Italian: consumare (it) , assorbire (it)
Japanese: 嚥下する (ja) ( えんげする, enge suru )
Kurdish:
Northern Kurdish: daqurtandin (ku) , daûrandin (ku) , dabilandin (ku)
Macedonian: про́голта ( prógolta ) , го́лта ( gólta )
Maori: horopū ( whole )
Norwegian:
Bokmål: sluke
Nynorsk: sluke
Old Norse: gleypa
Portuguese: engolir (pt)
Scottish Gaelic: sluig
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: гу̀тати impf , прогу̀тати pf
Roman: gùtati (sh) impf , progùtati (sh) pf
Spanish: tragar (es)
Swahili: meza (sw)
Swedish: sluka (sv)
Telugu: తిను (te) ( tinu )
Turkish: almak (tr) , tüketmek (tr)
Zazaki: groten , groten
to make muscular contractions of the oesophagus
to believe or accept
Chinese:
Mandarin: 相信 (zh) ( xiāngxìn )
Czech: spolknout (cs) ( informal )
Dutch: slikken (nl)
Finnish: niellä (fi)
French: avaler (fr) , digérer (fr)
German: schlucken (de) , akzeptieren (de)
Greek: καταπίνω (el) ( katapíno )
Hungarian: elhisz (hu) , elfogad (hu)
Italian: accettare (it) , crederci (it) , mandare giù
Kurdish:
Northern Kurdish: pejirandin (ku) , daqurtandin (ku) , daûrandin (ku) , dabilandin (ku)
Norwegian:
Bokmål: sluke
Nynorsk: sluke
Portuguese: engolir (pt)
Spanish: comérselo , tragar (es)
Swahili: meza (sw)
Swedish: svälja (sv)
Turkish: inanmak (tr) , kabul etmek (tr) , kabullenmek (tr) , yutmak (tr)
Walloon: avaler (wa) , acroere (wa) ( passive way "fé acroere" : make swallow )
to put up with; to bear patiently or without retaliation
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 .
amount swallowed
Afrikaans: sluk (af)
Arabic: جَرْعَة f ( jarʕa ) , شَرْبَة f ( šarba ) , قَمْحَة f ( qamḥa )
Armenian: please add this translation if you can
Bengali: please add this translation if you can
Bulgarian: глътка (bg) f ( glǎtka )
Catalan: engoliment
Chinese:
Mandarin: 口 (zh) ( kǒu )
Czech: hlt (cs) m , lok (cs) m
Danish: please add this translation if you can
Dutch: slok (nl)
Finnish: nielaus , kulaus (fi) ( of liquid )
French: gorgée (fr) f , avalée (fr) f
Georgian: please add this translation if you can
German: Schluck (de) m
Greek: μπουκιά (el) f ( boukiá )
Hindi: please add this translation if you can
Hungarian: korty (hu) , falat (hu) , nyelés (hu)
Japanese: please add this translation if you can
Kazakh: please add this translation if you can
Kurdish:
Northern Kurdish: qurt (ku) f , qurç (ku) f , nîç (ku) f
Macedonian: го́лтка f ( góltka )
Malay: please add this translation if you can
Malayalam: please add this translation if you can
Norwegian:
Bokmål: svelg m
Nynorsk: svelg m
Polish: łyk (pl) m
Portuguese: gole (pt) m , engolida f
Russian: глото́к (ru) m ( glotók )
Scots: swallie
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: гу̏тља̄ј m
Roman: gȕtljāj (sh) m
Slovak: please add this translation if you can
Swahili: meza (sw)
Swedish: sväljning (sv) c
Tamil: please add this translation if you can
Telugu: please add this translation if you can
Thai: please add this translation if you can
Turkish: yudum (tr)
Turkmen: please add this translation if you can
Uzbek: please add this translation if you can
A red-rumped swallow
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 .
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 .
( bird of Hirundinidae ) : martin
( bird of Hirundinidae ) : martlet ( type of feetless bird in heraldry )
bird
Afrikaans: swavel , swaeltjie
Albanian: dallëndyshe (sq) f
Algonquin: tinogkukquas
Apache:
Western Apache: piishi
Arabic: سُنُونُو m ( sunūnū )
Egyptian Arabic: سنونو m ( sununu ) , عصفور الجنة ( ʕaṣfour eg-gana )
Moroccan Arabic: بو خْطيفة f ( bu ḫṭifa )
Aramaic:
Classical Syriac: ܣܢܘܢܝܬܐ f , ܩܨܘܡܬܐ f
Armenian: ծիծեռնակ (hy) ( ciceṙnak )
Old Armenian: ծիծեռն ( ciceṙn ) , ծիծառն ( cicaṙn )
Aromanian: alãndurã f , lãndurã f , rãndurã f
Asturian: andarina (ast) f , golondra (ast) f
Azerbaijani: qaranquş (az)
Bashkir: ҡарлуғас ( qarluğas )
Basque: enara
Belarusian: ла́стаўка f ( lástaŭka )
Bengali: আবাবিল (bn) ( ababil )
Breton: gwennili (br) f , gwennel (br) f
Bulgarian: ля́стовица (bg) f ( ljástovica )
Buryat: хараасгай ( xaraasgaj )
Catalan: oreneta (ca) f
Chamicuro: cholo
Chechen: чӏегӏардиг ( čʼeğardig )
Chinese:
Mandarin: 燕子 (zh) ( yànzi )
Chuvash: чӗкеҫ ( čĕk̬eś )
Cornish: gwennel f
Crimean Tatar: qarılğaç
Czech: vlaštovka (cs) f
Dalmatian: rondaina f
Danish: svale (da) , landsvale (da)
Dutch: zwaluw (nl) f
Esperanto: hirundo (eo)
Estonian: pääsuke (et) , pääsulind ( poetic )
Faroese: svala
Finnish: pääsky (fi)
French: hirondelle (fr) f
Friulian: cisile , sisile
Galician: andoriña (gl) f , anduriña (gl) f
Georgian: მერცხალი ( mercxali )
German: Schwalbe (de) f
Greek: χελιδόνι (el) n ( chelidóni )
Ancient: χελιδών f ( khelidṓn )
Hebrew: סנונית (he) f ( snunit )
Hindi: अबाबील (hi) f ( abābīl )
Hungarian: fecske (hu)
Hunsrik: Schwalleb f
Icelandic: svala (is) , landsvala (is)
Ido: hirundo (io)
Ingrian: pääskö , pääskölintu , pääsky , pääskylintu
Ingush: чӏагарг ( čʼagarg )
Interlingua: hirundine
Irish: fáinleog (ga) f
Italian: rondine (it) f
Japanese: 燕 (ja) ( つばめ, tsubame ) , ツバメ (ja) ( tsubame )
Kalmyk: харада ( xarada )
Kannada: ಕವಲುತೋಕೆ ಹಕ್ಕಿ ( kavalutōke hakki )
Kazakh: қарлығаш ( qarlyğaş )
Komi-Zyrian: чикыш ( ćikyš )
Korean: 제비 (ko) ( jebi )
Kurdish:
Central Kurdish: پەڕەسێلکە (ckb) ( perresêlke )
Northern Kurdish: hacîreşk (ku) , dûmeqesk (ku) , hechecik (ku)
Kyrgyz: карлыгач ( karlıgac )
Ladin: rondola
Latgalian: bezdeleiga f , arleiga f
Latin: hirundō
Latvian: bezdelīga
Lithuanian: kregždė (lt) f
Lombard: runden f
Low German:
Dutch Low Saxon: swaalfke ( Gronings )
German Low German: Swaalk f , Swöölk f , Swalf f
Luxembourgish: Schmuebel (lb) f , Schmuewel f , Schmuelef f
Macedonian: ласто́вица f ( lastóvica ) , ласто́вичка f ( lastóvička )
Maltese: ħuttafa
Manchu: ᠴᡳᠪᡳᠨ ( cibin )
Manx: gollan geayee m
Maori: warou
Mari:
Eastern Mari: вараксим ( varaksim ) , варсеҥге ( varseŋge ) , нургӱльӧ ( nurgüĺö )
Western Mari: цӹгӓк ( cÿgäk )
Mongolian: хараацай (mn) ( xaraacaj )
Nahuatl: cuicuitzcatl (nah)
Navajo: táshchozhii
Nogai: карлыгаш ( karlıgaş )
Norman: héthonde f
Norwegian:
Bokmål: svale (no) m or f
Nynorsk: svale f
Occitan: ironda (oc) f , randoleta (oc) f
Ojibwe: zhaashaawanibiisi
Old English: swealwe f
Ottoman Turkish: قیرلانغیج
Persian: پرستو (fa) ( parastu ) , چلچله (fa) ( čelčele ) , ابابیل (fa) ( abâbil )
Polish: jaskółka (pl) f , dymówka (pl) f
Pontic Greek: χ̌ελιδόνιν n ( šelidónin )
Portuguese: andorinha (pt) f
Romani: pitsagoy m , rindilashka f
Romanian: rândunică (ro) f , lăstun (ro) m , rândunea (ro) f
Romansch: randulina f , hirondella f , irundeala f
Russian: ла́сточка (ru) f ( lástočka )
Sami: spálfu , suorrespálfu , láhtospálfu
Sardinian: mongixedda , arrùndine , arrùndini
Scots: swalla
Scottish Gaelic: gòbhlan-gaoithe m
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: ла̏ставица f , ла́ста f
Roman: lȁstavica (sh) f , lásta (sh) f
Shor: қарлығаш ( qarlığaş )
Sicilian: rìndina f , rìnnina f
Slovak: lastovička f
Slovene: lastovka f , lastovica (sl) f
Sorbian:
Lower Sorbian: jaskolicka f
Upper Sorbian: łastojčka f
Spanish: golondrina (es) f
Swahili: mbayuwayu (sw)
Swedish: svala (sv) , ladusvala (sv)
Tagalog: layanglayang
Tajik: фароштурук ( farošturuk )
Tamil: தகைவிலான்கள் ( takaivilāṉkaḷ )
Tashelhit: ⵉⴼⵍⵉⵍⵍⵉⵙ m ( iflillis )
Tatar: карлыгач (tt) ( qarlığaç )
Thai: นางแอ่น (th) , อีแอ่น
Turkish: kırlangıç (tr)
Turkmen: garlawaç
Udmurt: ваёбыж ( vajobyž )
Ugaritic: 𐎒𐎐𐎐𐎚 ( snnt )
Ukrainian: ла́стівка f ( lástivka )
Urdu: ابابیل (ur) m ( abābīl )
Uyghur: قارلىغاچ ( qarlighach )
Uzbek: qaldirg'och (uz)
Venetian: sìxiła f
Vietnamese: nhạn (vi) , én (vi)
Vilamovian: śwojmła
Walloon: oronde (wa) f , aronde (wa) f
Welsh: gwennol f
West Frisian: swel , boereswel (fy)
Yámana: lásix
Yucatec Maya: kosom