Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Absorb \Ab*sorb"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Absorbed; p. pr. & vb. n. Absorbing.] [L. absorbere; ab + sorbere to suck in, akin to Gr. ?: cf. F. absorber.]
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To swallow up; to engulf; to overwhelm; to cause to disappear as if by swallowing up; to use up; to include. ``Dark oblivion soon absorbs them all.''
--Cowper.The large cities absorb the wealth and fashion.
--W. Irving. To suck up; to drink in; to imbibe; as a sponge or as the lacteals of the body.
--Bacon.To engross or engage wholly; to occupy fully; as, absorbed in study or the pursuit of wealth.
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To take up by cohesive, chemical, or any molecular action, as when charcoal absorbs gases. So heat, light, and electricity are absorbed or taken up in the substances into which they pass.
--Nichol.Syn: To Absorb, Engross, Swallow up, Engulf.
Usage: These words agree in one general idea, that of completely taking up. They are chiefly used in a figurative sense and may be distinguished by a reference to their etymology. We speak of a person as absorbed (lit., drawn in, swallowed up) in study or some other employment of the highest interest. We speak of a person as ebgrossed (lit., seized upon in the gross, or wholly) by something which occupies his whole time and thoughts, as the acquisition of wealth, or the attainment of honor. We speak of a person (under a stronger image) as swallowed up and lost in that which completely occupies his thoughts and feelings, as in grief at the death of a friend, or in the multiplied cares of life. We speak of a person as engulfed in that which (like a gulf) takes in all his hopes and interests; as, engulfed in misery, ruin, etc.
That grave question which had begun to absorb the Christian mind -- the marriage of the clergy.
--Milman.Too long hath love engrossed Britannia's stage, And sunk to softness all our tragic rage.
--Tickell.Should not the sad occasion swallow up My other cares?
--Addison.And in destruction's river Engulf and swallow those.
--Sir P. Sidney.
Absorbing \Ab*sorb"ing\, a. Swallowing, engrossing; as, an absorbing pursuit. -- Ab*sorb"ing, adv.
Wiktionary
engross, that sustains someone's interest. (First attested in the mid 18th century.)(R:SOED5: page=9) v
(present participle of absorb English)
WordNet
adj. capable of arousing and holding the attention; "a fascinating story" [syn: engrossing, fascinating, gripping, riveting]
Usage examples of "absorbing".
Mary Harris, for example, found her work as a senior accountant absorbing, part of the reason she was one of the most dedicated accounting employees at her firm.
He was receiving didactic courses from Ruth Hilton, who said he was absorbing the agronomy data at a satisfactory rate, and would make a promising farmer one day.
And as the body is sustained by absorbing nutrition from matter, so the soul is sustained by assimilating the spiritual substances of the invisible kingdom.
He stood, silently absorbing her like a plant basking in the rays of the sun.
He inquired of one where he could find an expressman and was referred to a mild man absorbing a bad cigar.
The forest was eerily quiet, what with the heaviness of the air absorbing extraneous sounds.
He opened the unpainted door, walked out with them into the rain, his own homespun absorbing what their silver shed.
This network has the power of absorbing certain kinds of stains very actively, and is consequently deeply stained when treated as the microscopist commonly prepares his specimens.
He declared indeed that his love for her was not an absorbing passion like his first, but a mingling of pity, admiration, and that tenderness which his warm heart was ever ready to bestow.
He was more interested in absorbing the aesthetic impressions of the evening, admiring Patina and how gorgeous she looked in her outfit, experiencing the bright lights, taking in the festivities and gazing curiously upon the many students who had dressed up for the occasion.
I could see the internal organs more clearly now -- pulsing and absorbing, moving in peristaltic waves, some of them filled with the green platelet creatures.
Though with a glittering eye and a strong flush on his cheek, he conserved a deliberate incidental manner, and maintained a pose of extreme interest in his own prelection as, seated in an arm-chair before the fire he began to talk with a very definite intention of a quiet self-assertion, of absorbing and controlling the conversation.
If they are left standing in their solutions of proteinoid, they will, like yeast cells, form small buds which enlarge, split off from their parent, and grow by absorbing proteinoid from the solution.
Covertly, Myshkin is a cultural sponge whose capacity for absorbing pain and evil sacralizes passivity.
Drosera are continually secreting viscid fluid to replace that lost by evaporation, yet they do not secrete the ferment proper for digestion when mechanically irritated, but only after absorbing certain matter, probably of a nitrogenous nature.