absorb

[ ab-sawrb, -zawrb ]

/ æbˈsɔrb, -ˈzɔrb /

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See synonyms for: absorb / absorbed / absorbing / absorbable on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object)

to suck up or drink in (a liquid); soak up: A sponge absorbs water.

to swallow up the identity or individuality of; incorporate: The empire absorbed many small nations.

to involve the full attention of; to engross or engage wholly: so absorbed in a book that he did not hear the bell.

to occupy or fill: This job absorbs all of my time.

to take up or receive by chemical or molecular action: Carbonic acid is formed when water absorbs carbon dioxide.

to take in without echo, recoil, or reflection: to absorb sound and light; to absorb shock.

to take in and utilize: The market absorbed all the computers we could build. Can your brain absorb all this information?

to pay for (costs, taxes, etc.): The company will absorb all the research costs.

Archaic. to swallow up.

OTHER WORDS FOR absorb

2 assimilate, consume, devour, engulf; destroy.

See synonyms for absorb on Thesaurus.com

QUIZ

THINGAMABOB OR THINGUMMY: CAN YOU DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THE US AND UK TERMS IN THIS QUIZ?

Do you know the difference between everyday US and UK terminology? Test yourself with this quiz on words that differ across the Atlantic.

Question 1 of 7

In the UK, COTTON CANDY is more commonly known as…

candystring

candyfloss

candypuff

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Origin of absorb

1480–90; <Latin absorbēre, equivalent to ab-ab- + sorbēre to suck in, swallow

OTHER WORDS FROM absorb

ab·sorb·a·ble, adjectiveab·sorb·a·bil·i·ty, nounnon·ab·sorb·a·bil·i·ty, nounnon·ab·sorb·a·ble, adjective

o·ver·ab·sorb, verb (used with object)pre·ab·sorb, verbre·ab·sorb, verb (used with object)un·ab·sorb·a·ble, adjective

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH absorb

absorb , adsorb

Words nearby absorb

absolutive, absolutize, absolutory, absolve, absonant, absorb, absorbance, absorbed, absorbed dose, absorbefacient, absorbent

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use absorb in a sentence

The meat was almost blackened by the time it absorbed the smoke, and while the skin was crisp, it gave way between my teeth.
Until I Can Go Back to My Favorite Restaurant, This Jerk Paste Is the Next Best Thing|Elazar Sontag|September 25, 2020|Eater
With a more extensive root system, plants can absorb more nutrients and pump more exudates into the soil to recruit more helpful microbes that can make more indole-3-acetic acid.
Junk Food Is Bad For Plants, Too - Issue 90: Something Green|Anne Biklé & David R. Montgomery|September 23, 2020|Nautilus
A few amphibians don’t bother with lungs and instead absorb oxygen through their skin.
Scientists Say: Amphibian|Bethany Brookshire|September 21, 2020|Science News For Students
Even with an increase in volume, the system has space to absorb more passengers and still perform well.
Planning to fly for the holidays? 6 things to know before you book|matthewheimer|September 19, 2020|Fortune

I wanted to learn as much as I could about the trail and, as an educator, he was happy to give me as much information as I could absorb.
Inside an FKT Attempt on the Appalachian Trail|Martin Fritz Huber|September 3, 2020|Outside Online
Similar reinforced plinths were developed by the Getty museums in Los Angeles to absorb the seismic movements there.
Florence Preps ‘David’ for the Big One|Barbie Latza Nadeau|December 25, 2014|DAILY BEAST
In the book, you say “Absorb youth and you will be absorbed by youth.”
George Clinton on Industry ‘Mobsters’ and How Nobody Wants to Listen to a Crackhead|Curtis Stephen|November 19, 2014|DAILY BEAST
But the details of this massacre have been especially difficult to absorb.
Anatomy of a Mexican Student Massacre|Jason McGahan|October 8, 2014|DAILY BEAST
It gave me license to pore over raw tape, again and again, to absorb the subtle clues of human behavior.
We Interrupt This Broadcast: How a TV Producer Learned to Write Fiction|George Lerner|September 9, 2014|DAILY BEAST
“I welcome China to Africa because Africa is big enough to absorb China,” he said.
The American Elite Embraces a New Africa at D.C. Summit|Eleanor Clift|August 6, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Never smoke when the pores are open: they absorb, and you are unfit for decent society.
Tobacco; Its History, Varieties, Culture, Manufacture and Commerce|E. R. Billings.
It was with much amazement that they watched Henrietta absorb sandwiches, cake, eggs, and fruit.
The Campfire Girls of Roselawn|Margaret Penrose
Here one can be alive and absorb something of the earth-forces that never get within touching distance in the cities.
Three More John Silence Stories|Algernon Blackwood
The recent researches of Brustlein have shown that lime does cause the organic matters to absorb ammonia from its salts.
Elements of Agricultural Chemistry|Thomas Anderson
Should it still be too moist to be sown, it must be again turned over, and mixed with some dry substance to absorb the moisture.
Elements of Agricultural Chemistry|Thomas Anderson

British Dictionary definitions for absorb

absorb

/ (əbˈsɔːb, -ˈzɔːb) /

verb (tr)

to soak or suck up (liquids)

to engage or occupy (the interest, attention, or time) of (someone); engross

to receive or take in (the energy of an impact)

physics to take in (all or part of incident radiated energy) and retain the part that is not reflected or transmitted

to take in or assimilate; incorporate

to accept and find a market for (goods, etc)

to pay for as part of a commercial transactionthe distributor absorbed the cost of transport

chem to cause to undergo a process in which one substance, usually a liquid or gas, permeates into or is dissolved by a liquid or solidporous solids absorb water; hydrochloric acid absorbs carbon dioxide Compare adsorb

Derived forms of absorb

absorbability, nounabsorbable, adjective

Word Origin for absorb

C15: via Old French from Latin absorbēre to suck, swallow, from ab- 1 + sorbēre to suck

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

absorb

OTHER WORDS FOR absorb

Origin of absorb

OTHER WORDS FROM absorb

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH absorb

Words nearby absorb

Words related to absorb

How to use absorb in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for absorb

Derived forms of absorb

Word Origin for absorb