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Swallow vs Waste - What's the difference?

swallow | waste | Related terms |

In transitive terms the difference between swallow and waste

is that swallow is to accept easily or without questions; to believe, accept while waste is to squander (money or resources) uselessly; to spend (time) idly.

In intransitive terms the difference between swallow and waste

is that swallow is 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 while waste is to be diminished; to lose bulk, substance, strength, value etc. gradually.

As an adjective waste is

uncultivated, uninhabited.

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

    waste

    English

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) .

    Noun

  • A waste land; an uninhabited desolate region; a wilderness or desert.
  • A place that has been laid waste or destroyed.
  • A large tract of uncultivated land.
  • A vast expanse of water.
  • A disused mine or part of one.
  • The action or progress of wasting; extravagant consumption or ineffectual use.
  • That was a waste of time
    Her life seemed a waste
  • Large abundance of something, specifically without it being used.
  • Gradual loss or decay.
  • A decaying of the body by disease; wasting away.
  • (rare) Destruction or devastation caused by war or natural disasters; See "to lay waste"
  • Excess of material, useless by-products or damaged, unsaleable products; garbage; rubbish.
  • Excrement
  • The cage was littered with animal waste
  • (legal) A cause of action which may be brought by the owner of a future interest in property against the current owner of that property to prevent the current owner from degrading the value or character of the property, either intentionally or through neglect.
  • Derived terms
    * ameliorative waste * cotton waste * industrial waste * lay waste * nuclear waste * permissive waste * radioactive waste * rock waste * silk waste * toxic waste * trade waste * voluntary waste * wasteful * wasteless * waste of space * waste of time * waste pipe * wasty

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl) .

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • Uncultivated, uninhabited.
  • *:
  • *:SOo whanne syr Galahad was departed from the castel of maydens / he rode tyl he came to a waste forest / & there he mette with syre launcelot and syr Percyuale but they knewe hym not / for he was newe desguysed / Ryghte so syr launcelot his fader dressid his spere and brake it vpon syr Galahad
  • Barren; desert.
  • *2009 , (Diarmaid MacCulloch), A History of Christianity , Penguin 2010, p. 255:
  • *:For centuries the shrine at Mecca had been of merely local importance, far outshone by the Temple of the Jews in Jerusalem, whose cult Christians had in good measure renewed by their pilgrimage in honour of Christ's crucifixion and resurrection, while leaving the actual site of the Jerusalem Temple dishonoured and waste .
  • Rejected as being defective; eliminated as being worthless; produced in excess.
  • *{{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=September-October, author= Katie L. Burke
  • , magazine=(American Scientist), title= In the News , passage=Oxygen levels on Earth skyrocketed 2.4 billion years ago, when cyanobacteria evolved photosynthesis: the ability to convert water and carbon dioxide into carbohydrates and waste oxygen using solar energy.}}
  • Superfluous; needless.
  • Dismal; gloomy; cheerless.
  • *Sir (Walter Scott) (1771-1832)
  • *:His heart became appalled as he gazed forward into the waste darkness of futurity.
  • Unfortunate; disappointing. (rfex)
  • Usage notes
    Same meanings as wasted.
    Derived terms
    * affirmative waste * ameliorative waste * go to waste * lay waste * lie waste * nonwasted * nonwasting * permissive waste * run to waste * unwasted * voluntary waste * waste pipe * wasteland * wasteness * wastrife

    Etymology 3

    From (etyl) .

    Verb

    (wast)
  • To devastate or destroy.
  • * Spenser
  • Thou barren ground, whom winter's wrath hath wasted , / Art made a mirror to behold my plight.
  • * Dryden
  • The Tiber / Insults our walls, and wastes our fruitful grounds.
  • To wear away by degrees; to impair gradually; to diminish by constant loss; to use up; to consume; to spend; to wear out.
  • * Bible, Numbers xiv. 33
  • until your carcasses be wasted in the wilderness
  • * Robertson
  • Wasted by such a course of life, the infirmities of age daily grew on him.
  • To squander (money or resources) uselessly; to spend (time) idly.
  • * Gray
  • Full many a flower is born to blush unseen, / And waste its sweetness on the desert air.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-01, volume=407, issue=8838
  • , page=13 (Technology Quarterly), magazine=(The Economist) , title= Ideas coming down the track , passage=A “moving platform” scheme
    E. Kay (1822-1897), afterwards Lord Justice of Appeal, had rooms on the same staircase as myself, and we wasted a great deal of time together, both in term and in my second summer vacation.'' 1909. Francis Galton, ''Memories of my life , p. 69.
  • (slang) To .
  • Gradually lose weight, weaken, become frail.
  • To be diminished; to lose bulk, substance, strength, value etc. gradually.
  • * Bible, 1 Kings xvii. 14
  • The barrel of meal shall not waste .
  • (legal) To damage, impair, or injure (an estate, etc.) voluntarily, or by allowing the buildings, fences, etc., to fall into decay.
  • Derived terms
    * get wasted * wastage * waste breath * waster * waste time * wastingly * wastery * wastethrift * wastrel * wasty

    See also

    *

    Anagrams

    * * * 1000 English basic words ----