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swallow
(redirected from Martin (bird))

   Also found in: Medical, Legal, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia 0.01 sec.
swal·low 1  (swl)
v. swal·lowed, swal·low·ing, swal·lows
v.tr.
1. To cause (food or drink, for example) to pass through the mouth and throat into the stomach.
2. To put up with (something unpleasant): swallowed the insults and kept on working.
3. To refrain from expressing; suppress: swallow one's feelings.
4. To consume or destroy as if by ingestion; devour: a building that was swallowed up by fire.
5. Slang To believe without question: swallowed the alibi.
6. To take back; retract: swallow one's words.
7. To say inarticulately; mumble: The actor swallowed his lines.
v.intr.
To perform the act of swallowing.
n.
1. The act of swallowing.
2. An amount swallowed.
3. Nautical The channel through which a rope runs in a block or a mooring chock.

[Middle English swalowen, from Old English swelgan; see swel- in Indo-European roots.]

swallow·er n.

swal·low 2  (swl)
n.
1. Any of various small graceful swift-flying passerine birds of the family Hirundinidae, having long pointed wings, a usually notched or forked tail, and a large mouth for catching flying insects and noted for their regular migrations in large numbers, often over long distances.
2. Any of various similar birds, such as a swift.

[Middle English swalowe, from Old English swealwe.]

swallow1
vb (mainly tr)
1. (Life Sciences & Allied Applications / Physiology) to pass (food, drink, etc.) through the mouth to the stomach by means of the muscular action of the oesophagus
2. (often foll by up) to engulf or destroy as if by ingestion Nazi Germany swallowed up several small countries
3. Informal to believe gullibly he will never swallow such an excuse
4. to refrain from uttering or manifesting to swallow one's disappointment
5. to endure without retaliation
6. to enunciate (words, etc.) indistinctly; mutter
7. (often foll by down) to eat or drink reluctantly
8. (Life Sciences & Allied Applications / Physiology) (intr) to perform or simulate the act of swallowing, as in gulping
swallow one's words to retract a statement, argument, etc., often in humiliating circumstances
n
1. (Life Sciences & Allied Applications / Physiology) the act of swallowing
2. the amount swallowed at any single time; mouthful
3. (Transport / Nautical Terms) Also called crown throat Nautical the opening between the shell and the groove of the sheave of a block, through which the rope is passed
4. (Life Sciences & Allied Applications / Anatomy) Rare another word for throat, gullet
5. Rare a capacity for swallowing; appetite
[Old English swelgan; related to Old Norse svelga, Old High German swelgan to swallow, Swedish svalg gullet]
swallowable  adj
swallower  n

swallow2
n
1. (Life Sciences & Allied Applications / Animals) any passerine songbird of the family Hirundinidae, esp Hirundo rustica (common or barn swallow), having long pointed wings, a forked tail, short legs, and a rapid flight Related adj hirundine
2. (Life Sciences & Allied Applications / Breeds) See fairy swallow
[Old English swealwe; related to Old Frisian swale, Old Norse svala, Old High German swalwa]
swallow-like  adj

swallow


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