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Drown vs Swallow - What's the difference?

drown | swallow |

In lang=en terms the difference between drown and swallow

is that drown is to lose, make hard to find or unnoticeable in an abundant mass while swallow is to accept easily or without questions; to believe, accept.

As verbs the difference between drown and swallow

is that drown is to be suffocated in water or other fluid; to perish by such suffocation while swallow is to cause (food, drink etc) to pass from the mouth into the stomach; to take into the stomach through the throat.

As a noun swallow is

(archaic) a deep chasm or abyss in the earth or swallow can be a small, migratory bird of the hirundinidae family with long, pointed, moon-shaped wings and a forked tail which feeds on the wing by catching insects.

drown

English

Verb

(en verb)
  • To be suffocated in water or other fluid; to perish by such suffocation.
  • To deprive of life by immersion in water or other liquid.
  • To overwhelm in water; to submerge; to inundate.
  • To overpower; to overcome; to extinguish; — said especially of sound; usually in the form "to drown out".
  • * Sir J. Davies
  • most men being in sensual pleasures drowned
  • * Addison
  • My private voice is drowned amid the senate.
  • To lose, make hard to find or unnoticeable in an abundant mass.
  • ''The CIA gathers so much information that the actual answers it should seek are often drowned in the incessant flood of reports, recordings, satellite images etc.

    Derived terms

    * drowned * drowner * drowning * drown one's sorrows * drown out

    Synonyms

    * (overwhelm) flood

    References

    swallow

    English

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) swolowen, swolwen, . See also (l). The noun is from late (etyl) , from the verb.

    Alternative forms

    * (l), (l) (obsolete)

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To cause (food, drink etc.) to pass from the mouth into the stomach; to take into the stomach through the throat.
  • * 1898 , , (Moonfleet) Chapter 4:
  • What the liquor was I do not know, but it was not so strong but that I could swallow it in great gulps and found it less burning than my burning throat.
  • * 2011 , Jonathan Jones, The Guardian , 21 Apr 2011:
  • Clothes are to be worn and food is to be swallowed : they remain trapped in the physical world.
  • To take (something) in so that it disappears; to consume, absorb.
  • * John Locke
  • The necessary provision of the life swallows the greatest part of their time.
  • * 2010 , "What are the wild waves saying", The Economist , 28 Oct 2010:
  • His body, like so many others swallowed by the ocean’s hungry maw, was never found.
  • To take food down into the stomach; to make the muscular contractions of the oesophagus to achieve this, often taken as a sign of nervousness or strong emotion.
  • My throat was so sore that I was unable to swallow .
  • * 1979 , VC Andrews, Flowers in the Attic :
  • She swallowed nervously then, appearing near sick with what she had to say.
  • To accept easily or without questions; to believe, accept.
  • * Sir Thomas Browne
  • Though that story be not so readily swallowed .
  • * 2011 , Madeleine Bunting, The Guardian , 22 Apr 2011:
  • Americans swallowed his tale because they wanted to.
  • To engross; to appropriate; usually with up .
  • * Alexander Pope
  • Homer excels in this, that he swallowed up the honour of those who succeeded him.
  • To retract; to recant.
  • to swallow one's opinions
  • * Shakespeare
  • swallowed his vows whole
  • To put up with; to bear patiently or without retaliation.
  • to swallow an affront or insult
    Derived terms
    * bitter pill to swallow * swallowable * swallow one's pride * swallow up

    See also

    * dysphagia

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (archaic) A deep chasm or abyss in the earth.
  • The amount swallowed in one gulp; the act of swallowing.
  • He took the aspirin with a single swallow of water.

    Etymology 2

    (wikipedia swallow) (etyl) swealwe, from Germanic. Cognate with Danish svale, Dutch zwaluw, German Schwalbe, Swedish svala.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A small, migratory bird of the Hirundinidae family with long, pointed, moon-shaped wings and a forked tail which feeds on the wing by catching insects.
  • (nautical) The aperture in a block through which the rope reeves.
  • Synonyms
    * (small bird of Hirundunudae) martlet * barn swallow (official British name)
    Derived terms
    * one swallow does not make a summer * swallow-tailed

    Anagrams

    * wallows