absorbed
[ab-sawrbd, -zawrbd]
- deeply interested or involved; preoccupied: He had an absorbed look on his face.
Show More
Origin of absorbed
absorb
[ab-sawrb, -zawrb]
- 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.
Show More
Origin of absorb
Synonyms
See more synonyms for absorb on Thesaurus.com2. assimilate, consume, devour, engulf; destroy.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for absorbed
Contemporary Examples
As digesting food passes through the small intestine, it mixes with chemicals from the liver, and nutrients are absorbed.
‘Rectal Feeding’ Has Nothing to Do with Nutrition, Everything to Do with TortureRussell Saunders
December 10, 2014
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 CrackheadCurtis Stephen
November 19, 2014
“It is important to know that gluten is not absorbed through the skin,” she wrote in response to my questions.
No mayonnaise, only butter, which had been absorbed, sponge-style, into the bun.
This brilliant video takes a scientific look at the “giant prehistoric sea-monster that absorbed massive amounts of radiation.”
Historical Examples
He stood in deep shadow and the girl had been too absorbed in the play to note his coming.
The SpendersHarry Leon Wilson
He sat for some minutes in silence, and closed his eyes as if absorbed in thought.
They absorbed her atmosphere and after each followed a period of mental asphyxy.
Weighed and WantingGeorge MacDonald
They strolled together up the road past him, absorbed in themselves.
In the Midst of AlarmsRobert Barr
She was so absorbed in her intense enjoyment that she forgot all about the old Colonel.
The Little ColonelAnnie Fellows Johnston
absorbed
- engrossed; deeply interested
Show More
absorb
- 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
Show More
Word Origin
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 absorbed
absorb
v.
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.
Show More
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
absorb
(əb-zôrb′)- To take in by absorption.
- To reduce the intensity of transmitted light.
Show More
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.