absorb
verbUK /əbˈzɔːb/ · US /æbˈsɔɹb/
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.
14 senses
- 1To include so that it no longer has separate existence…
- 2To engulf, as in water; to swallow up.
- 3To suck up; to drink in; to imbibe, like a sponge or as…
- 4To be absorbed, or sucked in; to sink in.
- 5To take in energy and convert it.
- 6in receiving a physical impact or vibration without recoil.
- 7in receiving sound energy without repercussion or echo.
- 8taking in radiant energy and converting it to a…
- 9To engross or engage wholly; to occupy fully.
- 10To occupy or consume time.
- 11To assimilate mentally.
- 12To assume or pay for as part of a commercial transaction.
- 13To defray the costs.
- 14To accept or purchase in quantity.
1
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.
- Dark oblivion soon absorbs them all.1782, William Cowper, On Observing some Names of Little Note:
- 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.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:
2 more examples
- 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.2014 December 1, Mike Williams, “Microbullet hits confirm graphene’s strength”, in Rice University:
- 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.2023 March 8, Howard Johnston, “Was Marples the real railway wrecker?”, in RAIL, number 978, page 51:
2
Obsolete To engulf, as in water; to swallow up.
- to be absorpt, or swallowed up, in a lake of fire and brimstone.1684-1690, Thomas Burnet, The Sacred Theory of the Earth:
3
To suck up; to drink in; to imbibe, like a sponge or as the lacteals of the body; to chemically take in.
4
To be absorbed, or sucked in; to sink in.
- The drops of water slowly absorbed into the dry sponge.
- Heat, light, and electricity are absorbed in the substances into which they pass.
9
To engross or engage wholly; to occupy fully.
- 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.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:
- Livonian affairs held him tight, and were to absorb him for many a year.1904, Kazimierz Waliszewski, translated by Lady Mary Loyd, Ivan the Terrible, Part 2 Chapter 3:
10
To occupy or consume time.
11
To assimilate mentally.
- If we fail to absorb the lessons of history, we are doomed to repeat them.
12
Business To assume or pay for as part of a commercial transaction.
- Among the most debatable is the contention that the profit margins of small employers are insufficient to absorb the costs of health insurance2006, Gunnar Almgren, Health Care Politics, Policy, and Services: A Social Justice Analysis:
13
To defray the costs.
- I’ll absorb the charge for the window replacement.
14
To accept or purchase in quantity.
- Synonyms
- assimilate, engulf, incorporate, swallow up, overwhelm, draw, drink in, imbibe, soak up, sop up, suck, suck up, steep, take in, take up, use up, engage, engross, immerse, monopolize, occupy, assume, bear, pay for
- Antonyms
- emit
- Derived terms
- absorbability, absorbable, absorbance, absorbate, absorbefacient, absorbent, absorb oneself in, absorption, absorptive, bioabsorb, misabsorb, overabsorb, preabsorb, reabsorb, X-ray absorbing glass
- Related terms
- adsorb