absorb

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“
You absorb, absorb, as if you must fill yourself up with love, because you've got a shortage somewhere She was stunned by his cruelty, and did not hear.

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Definitions (25)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (9)

  1. transitive verb To take (something) in through or as through pores or interstices.
  2. transitive verb To occupy the full attention, interest, or time of; engross. See Synonyms at monopolize.
  3. transitive verb To retain (radiation or sound, for example) wholly, without reflection or transmission.
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Examples (50)

  • It was a lot to absorb, and she didn't want Prahlad thinking she had fallen asleep like Pascal. —  Analog SFF, November 2006
  • Such a combination would absorb, at any point on the earth's surface, energy from the waves rushing back and forth between the electrical north and south poles created by the Tesla oscillators. —  Prodigal genius - Tesla Biography
  • That was another bit of news for Bloch to absorb, and for the first time Milton heard him stutter a little. —  FSF,July2005
  • What a rip-off. they do not absorb, they just distribute water.
  • Block off quiet time during your travel day to simply absorb, and turn off your phone / laptop during those times, to savor and be in the moment. —  World Hum
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Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

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Used in the same contextWord Family

absorb:   absorbing ·  absorbed ·  absorbs
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (2)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Middle English, to swallow up, from Old French absorber, from Latin absorbēre : ab-, away; see ab-1 + sorbēre, to suck.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (1)

  1. from Latin absorbēre, swallow down anything, from ab, away, + sorbēre, suck up, = Greek ῤοφεῖν, sup up.
 

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/əbˈsɔrb/
by American Heritage

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