absorb

[ ab-sawrb, -zawrb ]

/ æbˈsɔrb, -ˈzɔrb /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR absorb 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.

RELATED WORDS

edible

Nearby words

Origin of absorb

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

SYNONYMS FOR absorb

2. assimilate, consume, devour, engulf; destroy.

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Related forms

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

Can be confusedabsorb adsorb

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for absorbable

Their action is very similar to the action of giant cells in the soft tissues about absorbable foreign bodies.
Surgery, with Special Reference to Podiatry|Maximilian Stern
Mineral oils (refined paraffine) also are not absorbable, and they act with benefit in some cases.
Diet and Health|Lulu Hunt Peters

British Dictionary definitions for absorbable

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 Formsabsorbability, 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

Word Origin and History for absorbable

absorb

early 15c., from Middle French absorber (Old French assorbir, 13c.), from Latin absorbere "to swallow up," from ab- "from" (see ab-) + sorbere "suck in," from PIE root *srebh- "to suck, absorb" (cf. Armenian arbi "I drank," Greek rhopheo "to sup greedily up, gulp down," Lithuanian srebiu "to drink greedily"). Figurative meaning "to completely grip (one's) attention" is from 1763. Related: Absorbed; absorbing.

Medicine definitions for absorbable

absorb

[ əb-zôrb′ ]

v.

To take in by absorption.

To reduce the intensity of transmitted light.

absorb

verb (used with object)

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RELATED WORDS

Nearby words

Origin of absorb

Examples from the Web for absorbable

absorb

verb (tr)

Word Origin for absorb

absorb

absorb

v.