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swallow  (swallows plural & 3rd person present) (swallowing present participle) (swallowed past tense & past participle )
1  verb If you swallow something, you cause it to go from your mouth down into your stomach. 
You are asked to swallow a capsule containing vitamin B...  V n 
Polly took a bite of the apple, chewed and swallowed.  V 
  Swallow is also a noun., n-count 
Jan lifted her glass and took a quick swallow.  
2  verb If you swallow, you make a movement in your throat as if you are swallowing something, often because you are nervous or frightened. 
Nancy swallowed hard and shook her head.  V 
3  verb If someone swallows a story or a statement, they believe it completely. 
It was vital that he swallowed the story about Juanita being in that motel room that night.  V n 
4  n-count A swallow is a kind of small bird with pointed wings and a forked tail. 
5 
 →  a bitter pill to swallow 
 →  pill swallow up 
1  phrasal verb If one thing is swallowed up by another, it becomes part of the first thing and no longer has a separate identity of its own. 
During the 1980s monster publishing houses started to swallow up smaller companies.  V P n (not pron), Also V n P 
2  phrasal verb If something swallows up money or resources, it uses them entirely while giving very little in return. 
A seven-day TV ad campaign could swallow up the best part of £50,000...  V P n (not pron) 
Farmers could see a quarter of their income swallowed up by the interest rate rise.  V-ed P, Also V n P 
3  phrasal verb If a person or thing is swallowed up by something, they disappear into it so that you cannot see them any more. 
He headed back towards the flea market and was quickly swallowed up in the crowd...  be V-ed P 
Weeds had swallowed up the garden.  V P n (not pron), Also V n P 

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"Collins Cobuild English Dictionary for Advanced Learners 4th edition published in 2003 © HarperCollins Publishers 1987, 1995, 2001, 2003 and Collins A-Z Thesaurus 1st edition first published in 1995 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995"