From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishswallowswal‧low1 /ˈswɒləʊ $ ˈswɑːloʊ/ ●●○ verb 1 food [intransitive, transitive]DFEAT to make food or drink go down your throat and towards your stomach He swallowed the last of his coffee and asked for the bill. Most snakes swallow their prey whole.2 nervously [intransitive]NERVOUS to make some of the liquid in your mouth go down your throat because you are frightened or nervous Leo swallowed hard and walked into the room. She swallowed nervously before beginning.3 believe/accept [transitive] informalBELIEVE to believe a story, explanation etc that is not actually true Do they really think we are stupid enough to swallow that? I found his story a bit hard to swallow (=difficult to believe).► see thesaurus at believe4 feelings [transitive]HIDE/NOT SHOW to stop yourself from showing a feeling, especially anger She swallowed her anger and turned to face him.5 → swallow your pride → a bitter pill (to swallow) at bitter1(7) → swallow somebody/something ↔ up→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
swallow• That they were in my hands was hard to swallow.• Her explanation of where the money went is a little hard to swallow.• If you drink some water it will make the pills easier to swallow.• You mean to tell me you swallowed a story like that?• One year after the rescue plan, it may be time for the critics to swallow at least some of their words.• Mary tried hard to swallow her anger.• Alice swallowed her iced tea hurriedly.• Joe understood her and swallowed his disappointment.• I threw a piece of meat to the dog and he swallowed it in one go.• With their large mouths they are capable of swallowing smaller aquarium fishes.• In ancient times one regular performer apparently used to swallow stones and then make music by banging on his stomach.• Before she swallowed the last of the drink she had promised to ask Wickham for the facts.• The company has been telling lies for years, but local media has swallowed them whole.• She swallowed twice, preparing to tell him the truth.• The 1400, on the other hand, can swallow up to 1. 36 gigabytes of compressed data.swallow ... whole• Haupt, Jesselson, and Arnold swallowed small pizzas whole.• I wanted to swallow him whole.• Just because we appear to be gorging ourselves on war coverage doesn't mean to say that we swallow it whole.• What was really wonderful was that the paper swallowed the hoax whole.• After they are separated, the keepers feed the chicks by hand and must teach them to swallow whole fish.• She had the feeling he would swallow her whole if she so much as rippled the surface.• If either railroad swallowed Conrail whole, it would dominate railroading east of the Mississippi River.swallowed nervously• He swallowed nervously and unlocked it.• Ranulf swallowed nervously as the bough hit the ground.• Every muscle tensed, and she swallowed nervously, but she carried on with her appointed task with renewed concentration.• Robyn swallowed nervously, immediately regretting her spurt of defiance.• Isabel swallowed nervously, pondering her answer as if the fate of the kingdom rested on it.hard to swallow• The story about his father being rich is hard to swallow.• Balanced it was not, with acidic undertones so evident that it was hard to swallow.• Like a vile-tasting patent medicine, they appreciate the need for treatment, but find it hard to swallow.• Many people dislike the taste of bran and find it hard to swallow.• Some readers may at first find our findings hard to swallow.• That they were in my hands was hard to swallow.• This compromise was hard to swallow and the final signature was not appended till March 1947.• Councilman Keith Beier said the thought of spending so much was hard to swallow, but he said it must be done.• And hard to swallow ... inmates say prison food is appalling.swallowswallow2 noun [countable] 1 HBBa small black and white bird that comes to northern countries in the summer2 DFEATan action in which you make food or drink go down your throat He downed his whisky in one swallow.Examples from the Corpus
swallow• Now, with a swish and a swallow, you, too, are sent on your way.• Elizabeth ducked her chin to take a swallow of coffee.• An early swallow hawked for flies, close over the bright water.• He took three large swallows and passed the bottle to his wife.• The other picked up his drink and took a long swallow, watching her over the rim of the tankard.• Glen took a long swallow of his drink.• There were two swallows nesting above our front door.From Longman Business Dictionaryswallowswal‧low /ˈswɒləʊˈswɑːloʊ/ verb [transitive]1to accept something unpleasantCar dealers are sceptical that customers willswallow theprice increases.2if an activity swallows a lot of time or money, it takes that length of time or uses that amount of moneyDevelopment of the new model’s engine will have swallowed at least six years and an estimated 6 billion kronor.3 (also swallow up) if one organization or company swallows another, it takes control of itSony swallowed two U.S. entertainment giants.Interstate-banking regulations were changed, which led to hundreds of smaller banks being swallowed up.→ See Verb tableOrigin swallow1 Old English swelgan swallow2 1. Old English swealwe2. (1800-1900) → SWALLOW1 