Synonyms

absorb

American

[ab-sawrb, -zawrb] / æbˈsɔrb, -ˈzɔrb /

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.

Synonyms:

destroy, engulf, devour, consume, assimilate
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.

absorb British

/ əbˈsɔːb, -ˈzɔːb /

verb

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 transaction

the 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 solid Compare adsorb

porous solids absorb water
hydrochloric acid absorbs carbon dioxide

"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

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

Inflected Forms

Participles

Conjugated Forms

Present

Past

Future

Etymology

Origin of absorb

First recorded in 1480–90; from Latin absorbēre, from ab- ab- + sorbēre “to suck in, swallow”

Explanation

To absorb is to take in or suck up like a sponge. If you don't hear your mother calling because you are reading, you could say you were absorbed in the book. If your parents buy groceries for a party you are throwing and don't make you pay, you could say that they decided to absorb the cost of the food. Young minds absorb information easily. The word, absorbent, describes something that is capable of absorbing something else. When you go swimming on a chilly day, it's best to carry an absorbent towel so that all of the water is absorbed from the surface of your skin.

Keep Reading on Vocabulary.com

Vocabulary lists containing absorb

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Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

absorb absorbs absorbed absorbing

It gives permission to mourn, to absorb the lessons of sharp grief, and to find ways to redefine ourselves and redeem the moment of loss.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026

Vitamin D is essential for helping the body absorb calcium and maintain healthy bones.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 8, 2026

There is only so much a restaurant can absorb.

From Salon ● Oct. 7, 2026

"Markets can absorb crude between $70 and $90, but when prices move above $100 a barrel, it starts putting stress on macro-economic variables such as inflation and also company earnings and margins."

From BBC ● Oct. 5, 2026

The Executioner seemed to absorb all the light that struck it, like a shadow in the captain’s hand.

From "The Reader" by Traci Chee

Bare ice is darker and less reflective than fresh snow, so absorbs more of the Sun's energy.

From BBC ● Oct. 1, 2026

Because lead absorbs far more X rays, letters appeared as bright marks against the darker carbonized material, similar to brighter regions on an underexposed black and white negative.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 26, 2026

But if AI absorbs the most manual elements of pulling pacing reports and tweaking platform bids, for example, practitioners might be able to see and work beyond their silos.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 24, 2026

They have served as "a buffer that absorbs bad years so that a single drought or a single dry season does not translate directly into a water crisis", she told reporters.

From Barron's ● Sep. 17, 2026

In sucking the blood it absorbs also the germs which are contained in it, and thus is infected.

From "An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793" by Jim Murphy

It said U.S. large-capitalization companies have broadly absorbed the climb in bond yields well and are also supported by forecasts of strong earnings growth driven by investment related to AI.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 5, 2026

Spanish academies function on the idea that a coach is a teacher first, and Rodri absorbed that from a young age.

From BBC ● Oct. 3, 2026

Forest Service, are overgrown because of decades of fire suppression, and that thinning them out through controlled burns would help reduce the amount of water absorbed by upland vegetation.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026

Already, the platform’s buyers have absorbed tariff-related seller price increases in the past year, Baker said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 29, 2026

They found Mr. Laurence standing before the fire in the great drawing room, but Jo’s attention was entirely absorbed by a grand piano, which stood open.

From "Little Women" by Louisa May Alcott

"The reason why all solar cells are black, and increasingly the whole panel is now black, is because black is the best absorbing colour."

From BBC ● Oct. 8, 2026

Then he threw an out-and-up to Puka Nacua, absorbing a big hit as he released the ball.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 8, 2026

Fibrocartilage is tougher and better suited to absorbing force, including in areas between the vertebrae of the spine.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 6, 2026

But “The Grapes of Wrath” and “East of Eden”—the latter of which Zoe Kazan has now adapted into a thoroughly absorbing series with an astonishing Florence Pugh—are forbidding tomes, for students and teachers alike.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 1, 2026

I stare at the screen, absorbing word by word a sliver of my life that changed everything.

From "The Adoration of Jenna Fox" by Mary E. Pearson

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023