What is "swallow"

Swallow \Swal"low\, n. [OE. swalowe, AS. swalewe, swealwe; akin to D. zwaluw, OHG. swalawa, G. schwalbe, Icel. & Sw. svala, Dan. svale.]

1. (Zo["o]l.) Any one of numerous species of passerine birds of the family Hirundinid[ae], especially one of those species in which the tail is deeply forked. They have long, pointed wings, and are noted for the swiftness and gracefulness of their flight.

   Note: The most common North American species are the barn swallow (see under Barn), the cliff, or eaves, swallow (see under Cliff), the white-bellied, or tree, swallow ( Tachycineta bicolor), and the bank swallow (see under Bank). The common European swallow ( Chelidon rustica), and the window swallow, or martin ( Chelidon urbica), are familiar species.

2. (Zo["o]l.) Any one of numerous species of swifts which resemble the true swallows in form and habits, as the common American chimney swallow, or swift.

3. (Naut.) The aperture in a block through which the rope reeves.
   --Ham. Nav. Encyc.

   Swallow plover (Zo["o]l.), any one of several species of fork-tailed ploverlike birds of the genus Glareola, as G. orientalis of India; a pratincole.

   Swallow shrike (Zo["o]l.), any one of several species of East Indian and Asiatic birds of the family Artamiid[ae], allied to the shrikes but similar to swallows in appearance and habits. The ashy swallow shrike ( Artamus fuscus) is common in India.

   Swallow warbler (Zo["o]l.), any one of numerous species of East Indian and Australian singing birds of the genus Dic[ae]um. They are allied to the honeysuckers.

Swallow \Swal"low\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Swallowed; p. pr. & vb. n. Swallowing.] [OE. swolewen, swolwen, swolhen, AS. swelgan; akin to D. zwelgen, OHG. swelahan, swelgan, G. schwelgen to feast, to revel, Icel. svelgia to swallow, SW. sv["a]lja, Dan. sv[ae]lge. Cf. Groundsel a plant.]

1. To take into the stomach; to receive through the gullet, or esophagus, into the stomach; as, to swallow food or drink.

   As if I had swallowed snowballs for pills.
   --Shak.

2. To draw into an abyss or gulf; to ingulf; to absorb -- usually followed by up.
   --Milton.

   The earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, and their houses.
   --Num. xvi. 32.

3. To receive or embrace, as opinions or belief, without examination or scruple; to receive implicitly.

   Though that story . . . be not so readily swallowed.
   --Sir T. Browne.

4. To engross; to appropriate; -- usually with up.

   Homer excels . . . in this, that he swallowed up the honor of those who succeeded him.
   --Pope.

5. To occupy; to take up; to employ.

   The necessary provision of the life swallows the greatest part of their time.
   --Locke.

6. To seize and waste; to exhaust; to consume.

   Corruption swallowed what the liberal hand Of bounty scattered.
   --Thomson.

7. To retract; to recant; as, to swallow one's opinions. ``Swallowed his vows whole.''
   --Shak.

8. To put up with; to bear patiently or without retaliation; as, to swallow an affront or insult.

   Syn: To absorb; imbibe; ingulf; engross; consume. See Absorb.

Swallow \Swal"low\, v. i. To perform the act of swallowing; as, his cold is so severe he is unable to swallow.

Swallow \Swal"low\, n.

1. The act of swallowing.

2. The gullet, or esophagus; the throat.

3. Taste; relish; inclination; liking. [Colloq.]

   I have no swallow for it.
   --Massinger.

4. Capacity for swallowing; voracity.

   There being nothing too gross for the swallow of political rancor.
   --Prof. Wilson.

5. As much as is, or can be, swallowed at once; as, a swallow of water.

6. That which ingulfs; a whirlpool. [Obs.]
   --Fabyan.

type of migratory bird (family Hirundinidae), Old English swealwe "swallow," from Proto-Germanic *swalwon (cognates: Old Saxon, Old Norse, Old Frisian, Swedish svala, Danish svale, Middle Dutch zwalewe, Dutch zwaluw, Old High German swalawa, German Schwalbe), from PIE *swol-wi- (cognates: Russian solowej, Slovak slavik, Polish słowik "nightingale"). The etymological sense is disputed. Popularly regarded as harbingers of summer; swallows building nests on or near a house is considered good luck.

"an act of swallowing," 1822, from swallow (v.). In late Old English and Middle English it meant "gulf, abyss, hole in the earth, whirlpool," also, in Middle English, "throat, gullet." Compare Old Norse svelgr "whirlpool," literally "devourer, swallower." Meaning "as much as one can swallow at once, mouthful" is from 1861.

"ingest through the throat" (transitive), Old English swelgan "swallow, imbibe, absorb" (class III strong verb; past tense swealg, past participle swolgen), from Proto-Germanic *swelgan/*swelhan (cognates: Old Saxon farswelgan, Old Norse svelgja "to swallow," Middle Dutch swelghen, Dutch zwelgen "to gulp, swallow," Old High German swelahan "to swallow," German schwelgen "to revel"), probably from PIE root *swel- (1) "to eat, drink" (cognates: Iranian *khvara- "eating").\n

\nIntransitive sense "perform the act of swallowing" is from c.1700. Sense of "consume, destroy" is attested from mid-14c. Meaning "to accept without question" is from 1590s. Related: Swallowed; swallowing.

Etymology 1 alt. 1 (context transitive English) To cause (food, drink etc.) to pass from the mouth into the stomach; to take into the stomach through the throat. (from 11th c.) 2 (context transitive English) To take (something) in so that it disappears; to consume, absorb. (from 13th c.) 3 (context intransitive English) To take food down into the stomach; to make the muscular contractions of the oesophagus to achieve this, often taken as a sign of nervousness or strong emotion. (from 18th c.) 4 (context transitive English) To accept easily or without questions; to believe, accept. (from 16th c.) 5 To engross; to appropriate; usually with ''up''. 6 To retract; to recant. 7 To put up with; to bear patiently or without retaliation. n. 1 (context archaic English) A deep chasm or abyss in the earth. 2 The amount swallowed in one gulp; the act of swallowing. vb. 1 (context transitive English) To cause (food, drink etc.) to pass from the mouth into the stomach; to take into the stomach through the throat. (from 11th c.) 2 (context transitive English) To take (something) in so that it disappears; to consume, absorb. (from 13th c.) 3 (context intransitive English) To take food down into the stomach; to make the muscular contractions of the oesophagus to achieve this, often taken as a sign of nervousness or strong emotion. (from 18th c.) 4 (context transitive English) To accept easily or without questions; to believe, accept. (from 16th c.) 5 To engross; to appropriate; usually with ''up''. 6 To retract; to recant. 7 To put up with; to bear patiently or without retaliation. Etymology 2

n. 1 A small, migratory bird of the Hirundinidae family with long, pointed, moon-shaped wings and a forked tail which feeds on the wing by catching insects. 2 (context nautical English) The aperture in a block through which the rope reeves.

1. n. a small amount of liquid food; "a sup of ale" [syn: sup]

2. the act of swallowing; "one swallow of the liquid was enough"; "he took a drink of his beer and smacked his lips" [syn: drink, deglutition]

3. small long-winged songbird noted for swift graceful flight and the regularity of its migrations

1. v. pass through the esophagus as part of eating or drinking; "Swallow the raw fish--it won't kill you!" [syn: get down]

2. engulf and destroy; "The Nazis swallowed the Baltic countries"

3. enclose or envelop completely, as if by swallowing; "The huge waves swallowed the small boat and it sank shortly thereafter" [syn: immerse, swallow up, bury, eat up]

4. utter indistinctly; "She swallowed the last words of her speech"

5. take back what one has said; "He swallowed his words" [syn: take back, unsay, withdraw]

6. keep from expressing; "I swallowed my anger and kept quiet"

7. tolerate or accommodate oneself to; "I shall have to accept these unpleasant working conditions"; "I swallowed the insult"; "She has learned to live with her husband's little idiosyncracies" [syn: accept, live with]

8. believe or accept without questioning or challenge; "Am I supposed to swallow that story?"

Swallow is a family of birds.

Swallow or Swallows may also refer to:

• The act of swallowing, transferring a substance from the mouth to the stomach

"Swallow" is a song by English Britpop band Sleeper, written by the band's vocalist and guitarist Louise Wener along with guitarist Jon Stewart. It was the first single to be released from their debut album Smart in 1994 (see 1994 in British music).

Swallow were the British-based duo of Mike Mason and Louise Trehy. Signed to 4AD, they only released one studio album and one special remix collection before leaving the label. They moved on to Rough Trade Records for a further EP before they disbanded.

The swallows and martins are a group of passerine birds in the family Hirundinidae that are characterised by their adaptation to aerial feeding. Swallow is used colloquially in Europe as a synonym for the barn swallow.

This family comprises two subfamilies: Pseudochelidoninae (the river martins of the genus Pseudochelidon) and Hirundininae (all other swallows and martins). Within the Old World, the name "martin" tends to be used for the squarer-tailed species, and the name "swallow" for the more fork-tailed species; however, there is no scientific distinction between these two groups. Within the New World, "martin" is reserved for members of the genus Progne. (These two systems are responsible for the sand martin being called " bank swallow" in the New World.) The entire family contains around 83 species in 19 genera.

The swallows have a cosmopolitan distribution across the world and breed on all the continents except Antarctica. It is believed that this family originated in Africa as hole-nesters; Africa still has the greatest diversity of the species. They also occur on a number of oceanic islands. A number of European and North American species are long-distance migrants; by contrast, the West and South African swallows are non-migratory.

Swallow is Zhao Wei's first album. The title sourced Zhao's first acclaimed role - Xiaoyanzi (小燕子; "Swallow") in My Fair Princess. In its first day of release, this album sold out 100,000 copies in Taiwan.

Swallow: A Tale of the Great Trek is a 1899 novel by H. Rider Haggard set in South Africa during the Boer Trek of 1836.

The Swallow (also known as the National Swallow) is a type of one-design keelboat that was used as a two-man Olympic class for the 1948 Olympics. It is now sailed with three crew. The main fleet is at Itchenor in Chichester Harbour, West Sussex, with a smaller fleet at Aldeburgh, Suffolk.There are around 40 active boats.As a National Class, the rules and affairs of the Class are regulated by the Royal Yachting Association. Many of these boats are named after birds and, in particular, sea birds.

Major changes to the National Swallow Class Rules in the 1970s enabled the move to grp construction, the addition of self-bailers (4) and, in 2010, the modernisation of the fore and aft rig, with a higher aspect ratio mainsail and lower footed jib. The latest rule change for 2014 is to allow electric bilge pumps.

It was designed by Tom Thornycroft as a potential replacement for the Star class still in use. The design was entered in a 1946 competition sponsored by Yachting magazine, but never became significantly popular outside the United Kingdom.

The design has a keel with an attached raked rudder. It has dinghy-like characteristics and is capable of planing in strong breezes. It was designed both "to go fast and look beautiful". Many Swallow sailors have moved to the Class from dinghy classes, including the International 14.

Sail numbers have now reached 94 and the current builder is Composite Craft of the Isle of Wight, Hampshire, England www.compositecraft.co.uk . As at January 2014, the Class Secretary is Nigel Glennie and the National Class Chairman and Captain is Paul Ward. The National Championships 2014 were held on 19 and 20 July 2014 under the flag of The Royal Yacht Squadron in Cowes. The winnere were Carolyn Brigg and David and Hugo Sloper in S82 'Marengo'.This will be followed by Cowes Classics Week and Cowes Week. Further details are on the Itchenor Sailing Club website www.itchenorsc.co.uk at the Swallow Class page.

The Ancient Egyptian Swallow hieroglyph is Gardiner sign listed no. G36 for swallow birds. The Sparrow hieroglyph appears similar in size and shape, but it is used to represent small, or bad items.

The swallow hieroglyph is used in Egyptian hieroglyphs as a phonogram or biliteral for wr-(or ur), and means items that are "great". It might be considered an equivalent to the cuneiform: gal, GAL, also meaning 'great'. The swallow hieroglyph is also an ideogram for the swallow birds.

}

Swallow was a rock band from the Boston area. Formed in 1969, they were extant for five years, touring with Traffic, the Supremes and B.B. King and headlining area venues on their own.

Somewhat unusuallly for a rock band, Swallow included a horn section, so there were initially eleven members in the band. Band members included Vern Miller from the Remains who wrote most of the band's songs, and blind blues singer George Leh.

Swallow released two albums on Warner Bros. Records. Their first album, Out of the Nest, released in 1972, included a contribution by Jeff Baxter on one song, "Come Home Woman". Another album, Swallow, followed in 1973.

Both albums were re-released on CD in 2010 on Wounded Bird Records.

Swallow is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:

• Andrew Swallow (born 1987), Australian rules footballer
• Barry Swallow (born 1942), British footballer
• David Swallow Australian rules footballer, brother of Andrew
• Ellen Swallow Richards née Ellen Swallow (1842–1911), American chemist
• Emily Swallow (born 1979), American actress
• Ian Swallow, British cricketer
• James Swallow, British writer
• Jerod Swallow, American figure skater
• Jodie Swallow, British triathlete
• John C. Swallow (born 1923), English oceanographer
• Ray Swallow (born 1935), British cricketer and footballer
• Ricky Swallow (born 1974), Australian sculptor
• Roger Swallow (born 1946), British music producer
• Silas C. Swallow (1839–1930), American preacher and politician
• Steve Swallow (born 1940), American jazz bassist and composer