Library / English Dictionary

ABSORB

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Cause to become one with

Example:

The sales tax is absorbed into the state income tax

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "absorb" is one way to...):

blend; coalesce; combine; commingle; conflate; flux; fuse; immix; meld; merge; mix (mix together different elements)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s something

Sense 2

Meaning:

Consume all of one's attention or time

Example:

Her interest in butterflies absorbs her completely

Synonyms:

absorb; engage; engross; occupy

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Hypernyms (to "absorb" is one way to...):

interest (excite the curiosity of; engage the interest of)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "absorb"):

involve (occupy or engage the interest of)

consume (engage fully)

rivet (hold (someone's attention))

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody

Sentence example:

The performance is likely to absorb Sue

Derivation:

absorption (the mental state of being preoccupied by something)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Devote (oneself) fully to

Example:

He immersed himself into his studies

Synonyms:

absorb; engross; engulf; immerse; plunge; soak up; steep

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Hypernyms (to "absorb" is one way to...):

center; centre; concentrate; focus; pore; rivet (direct one's attention on something)

Verb group:

immerse; plunge (cause to be immersed)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "absorb"):

drink; drink in (be fascinated or spell-bound by; pay close attention to)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Somebody ----s somebody PP

Derivation:

absorption (complete attention; intense mental effort)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Take up mentally

Example:

he absorbed the knowledge or beliefs of his tribe

Synonyms:

absorb; assimilate; ingest; take in

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Hypernyms (to "absorb" is one way to...):

acquire; larn; learn (gain knowledge or skills)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "absorb"):

imbibe (receive into the mind and retain)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

absorption (the social process of absorbing one cultural group into harmony with another)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Assimilate or take in

Example:

The immigrants were quickly absorbed into society

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "absorb" is one way to...):

invite; receive; take in (express willingness to have in one's home or environs)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody

Sense 6

Meaning:

Take in, also metaphorically

Example:

She drew strength from the minister's words

Synonyms:

absorb; draw; imbibe; soak up; sop up; suck; suck up; take in; take up

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "absorb"):

mop; mop up; wipe up (to wash or wipe with or as if with a mop)

blot (dry (ink) with blotting paper)

sponge up (absorb as if with a sponge)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s something

Derivation:

absorber ((physics) material in a nuclear reactor that absorbs radiation)

absorption ((chemistry) a process in which one substance permeates another; a fluid permeates or is dissolved by a liquid or solid)

Sense 7

Meaning:

Become imbued

Example:

The liquids, light, and gases absorb

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "absorb" is one way to...):

sorb; take up (take up a liquid or a gas either by adsorption or by absorption)

Domain category:

chemical science; chemistry (the science of matter; the branch of the natural sciences dealing with the composition of substances and their properties and reactions)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "absorb"):

reabsorb; resorb (undergo resorption)

assimilate; imbibe (take (gas, light or heat) into a solution)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Derivation:

absorbate (a material that has been or is capable of being absorbed)

absorbent (a material having capacity or tendency to absorb another substance)

absorbent (having power or capacity or tendency to absorb or soak up something (liquids or energy etc.))

absorber ((physics) material in a nuclear reactor that absorbs radiation)

absorption ((chemistry) a process in which one substance permeates another; a fluid permeates or is dissolved by a liquid or solid)

absorptive (having power or capacity or tendency to absorb or soak up something (liquids or energy etc.))

Sense 8

Meaning:

Take up, as of debts or payments

Example:

absorb the costs for something

Synonyms:

absorb; take over

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Hypernyms (to "absorb" is one way to...):

fund (furnish money for)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Sense 9

Meaning:

Suck or take up or in

Example:

A black star absorbs all matter

Synonyms:

absorb; take in

Classified under:

Verbs of raining, snowing, thawing, thundering

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "absorb"):

suck; suck in (attract by using an inexorable force, inducement, etc.)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Antonym:

emit (give off, send forth, or discharge; as of light, heat, or radiation, vapor, etc.)

Derivation:

absorbable (capable of being absorbed or taken in through the pores of a surface)

absorbent (having power or capacity or tendency to absorb or soak up something (liquids or energy etc.))

absorption ((physics) the process in which incident radiated energy is retained without reflection or transmission on passing through a medium)

absorptive (having power or capacity or tendency to absorb or soak up something (liquids or energy etc.))

Credits

 Context examples: 

During photosynthesis, trees and other plants absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and use it to build new cells.

(Amount of carbon stored in forests reduced as climate warms, University of Cambridge)

Ediacaran organisms do not appear to have mouths, organs or means of moving, so they are thought to have absorbed nutrients from the water around them.

(Why life on Earth first got big, University of Cambridge)

Methylcellulose is not absorbed by the intestines and attracts large amounts of water into the colon, thereby increasing viscosity, producing a softer and bulkier stool and stimulating the constriction of intestinal smooth muscles.

(Methylcellulose, NCI Thesaurus)

Astronomers deduced the amount of light absorbed by the atmosphere in infrared light.

('Cotton Candy' Planet Mysteries Unravel in New Hubble Observations, NASA)

Some neutrons get absorbed into the surface, while others escape.

(Where is the Ice on Ceres?, NASA)

Green algae also absorb carbon dioxide and produce oxygen.

(Scientists report skyrocketing phyotplankton population in aftermath of Kīlauea eruption, Wikinews)

She was too absorbed in striving to reconcile the stumbling, uncouth speech and its simplicity of thought with what she saw in his face.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

Nickel chloride is used in electroplating, in nickel catalysts and to absorb ammonia in industrial gas masks.

(Nickel Chloride, NCI Thesaurus)

Venus expresses her most loving qualities in Pisces, and because Pisces is a water sign like yours, Cancer, you will easily absorb the goodness of Venus and the transiting moon.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

A chewing gum that contains a small dose of nicotine, which enters the blood by being absorbed through the lining of the mouth.

(Nicotine gum, NCI Dictionary)