Absorb

/əbˈzɔːb/ · verb

Meaning

(transitive) 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..

Definitions by Sense

1. (transitive) 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.
2. (transitive, obsolete) To engulf, as in water; to swallow up.
3. (transitive) To suck up; to drink in; to imbibe, like a sponge or as the lacteals of the body; to chemically take in.
4. (intransitive) To be absorbed, or sucked in; to sink in.
5. (transitive, physics, chemistry) To take in energy and convert it.
6. (transitive) To engross or engage wholly; to occupy fully.
7. (transitive) To occupy or consume time.
8. (transitive) To assimilate mentally.

Example Sentences

Dark oblivion soon absorbs them all.

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.

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.

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.

to be absorpt, or swallowed up, in a lake of fire and brimstone.

The drops of water slowly absorbed into the dry sponge.

Heat, light, and electricity are absorbed in the substances into which they pass.

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.

Synonyms for absorb

Antonyms for absorb

Related Words

Word Forms

• absorbs
• absorbing
• absorbed
• absorpt
• no-table-tags
• glossary
• absorb
• absorbest
• absorbedst
• absorbeth
• -

Usage Notes

Choose a synonym only when it preserves the intended meaning, tone, and grammar of the full sentence.

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