Definitions for absorb
æbˈsɔrb, -ˈzɔrbab·sorb

Princeton's WordNetRate this definition:4.8 / 4 votes

1. absorbverb

   become imbued

   "The liquids, light, and gases absorb"

2. absorb, assimilate, ingest, take inverb

   take up mentally

   "he absorbed the knowledge or beliefs of his tribe"

3. absorb, take oververb

   take up, as of debts or payments

   "absorb the costs for something"

4. absorb, suck, imbibe, soak up, sop up, suck up, draw, take in, take upverb

   take in, also metaphorically

   "The sponge absorbs water well"; "She drew strength from the minister's words"

5. absorbverb

   cause to become one with

   "The sales tax is absorbed into the state income tax"

6. absorb, take inverb

   suck or take up or in

   "A black star absorbs all matter"

7. steep, immerse, engulf, plunge, engross, absorb, soak upverb

   devote (oneself) fully to

   "He immersed himself into his studies"

8. absorbverb

   assimilate or take in

   "The immigrants were quickly absorbed into society"

9. absorb, engross, engage, occupyverb

   consume all of one's attention or time

   "Her interest in butterflies absorbs her completely"

WiktionaryRate this definition:1.0 / 1 vote

1. absorbverb

   To include so that it no longer has separate existence; to swallow up; to engulf; to overwhelm; to cause to disappear as if by swallowing up; to use up; to incorporate; to assimilate.

2. absorbverb

   To suck up; to drink in; to imbibe; as a sponge or as the lacteals of the body.

3. absorbverb

   To learn

4. absorbverb

   To engross or engage wholly; to occupy fully; as, absorbed in study or in the pursuit of wealth.

5. absorbverb

   To consume completely.

6. absorbverb

   To endure.

7. absorbverb

   To take in radiant energy by chemical or physical action.

   Heat, light, and electricity are absorbed in the substances into which they pass.

8. absorbverb

   To assume or pay for as part of a commercial transaction.

9. absorbverb

   To receive the impact of without recoil or echo.

10. absorbverb

    To defray the costs.

Samuel Johnson's DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. To Absorbverb

   preter, absorbed; part. pret. absorbed, or absorpt.

   Etymology: absorbeo, Lat.

   1. To swallow up.

   Some tokens shew
   Of fearless friendship, and their sinking mates
   Sustain; vain love, tho’ laudable, absorpt
   By a fierce eddy, they together found
   The vast profundity. Phillips.

   Moses imputed the deluge to the disruption of the abyss; and St. Peter, to the particular constitution of that earth, which made it obnoxious to be absorpt in water. Thomas Burnet, Theory.

   2. To suck up. See Absorbent.

   Supposing the forementioned consumption should prove so durable, as to absorb and extenuate the said sanguine parts to an extreme degree, it is evident, that the fundamental parts must necessarily come into danger. Gideon Harvey, on Consumptions.

ChatGPTRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. absorb

   To absorb is to take in or soak up a substance, energy or an impact, either physically or mentally. It can refer to the process by which one object soaks up a liquid, light or heat, or it can refer to the mental process of understanding and assimilating information or knowledge.

2. absorb

   To absorb is to take in or soak up a substance, energy, information or impact, either physically or mentally. It might refer to a sponge soaking up water, a student taking in knowledge, a company integrating a new business or even the body assimilating nutrients from food.

3. absorb

   To absorb is to take in, soak up, or integrate. It can refer to various actions such as the process of a material or substance incorporating another substance into its structure, one's body taking nutrients or chemicals from food or medication, or the learning or understanding of information or ideas. The term can also refer to the process of assimilating cultural or social characteristics or information. The specific meaning depends on the context it is used.

4. absorb

   To absorb means to take in or soak up a substance, energy, or information. This could be a physical process such as a sponge absorbing water, a scientific process like a plant absorbing sunlight, or an abstract process like a person absorbing information from a book. Absorption can also refer to the process of incorporating something into a larger whole or system.

5. absorb

   To absorb is to take in or soak up a substance, energy, or information by assimilation, either physically or mentally. It may involve a liquid being soaked by a solid, or light, sound or heat being taken in without reflection or transmission. In learning, to absorb implies understanding and retaining information or knowledge.

6. absorb

   To absorb means to take in or soak up a substance, energy, or information. This could involve a material like a sponge absorbing water, a person absorbing knowledge or new information, or a specific wavelength of light being absorbed by a pigment. It can also refer to the process of incorporating or assimilating aspects such as ideas, culture or people into a larger entity.

7. absorb

   Absorb refers to the action or process of taking in, assimilating, or incorporating something such as a substance, energy, information, or ideas. This can refer to a physical process, such as a sponge absorbing water, a person absorbing knowledge, or even to a business absorbing the cost of an unexpected expense.

8. absorb

   Absorb refers to the process of taking in or soaking up a substance, energy, or even information, either physically or mentally. It often suggests full assimilation, integration, or incorporation of the absorbed entity. This term can be applied to different fields including physics, biology, chemistry, and more.

9. absorb

   To absorb means to take in or soak up a substance, energy, or information. This could involve a sponge soaking up water, the body absorbing nutrients from food, or a person absorbing knowledge from a book. It may also refer to encompassing or incorporating something within a whole, such as a large company absorbing a smaller one.

Webster DictionaryRate this definition:3.0 / 1 vote

1. Absorbverb

   to swallow up; to engulf; to overwhelm; to cause to disappear as if by swallowing up; to use up; to include

2. Absorbverb

   to suck up; to drink in; to imbibe; as a sponge or as the lacteals of the body

3. Absorbverb

   to engross or engage wholly; to occupy fully; as, absorbed in study or the pursuit of wealth

4. Absorbverb

   to take up by cohesive, chemical, or any molecular action, as when charcoal absorbs gases. So heat, light, and electricity are absorbed or taken up in the substances into which they pass

Chambers 20th Century DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Absorb

   ab-sorb′, v.t. to suck in: to swallow up: to engage wholly.—n. Absorbabil′ity.—adj. Absorb′able, that may be absorbed.—p.adj. Absorbed′, swallowed up: entirely occupied.—advs. Absorb′edly, Absorb′ingly.—adj. Absorb′ent, imbibing: swallowing.—n. that which absorbs.—n. Absorp′tion, the act of absorbing: entire occupation of mind.—adj. Absorp′tive, having power to absorb.—n. Absorptiv′ity. [Fr.—L. ab, from, sorbēre, -sorptum, to suck in.]

Editors ContributionRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. absorb

   To retain energy, matter or information.

   They did absorb the information easily and simply.

   
   

   Submitted by MaryC on March 8, 2020  

Suggested ResourcesRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Absorb

   Absorb vs. Absorbent -- In this Grammar.com article you will learn the differences between the words Absorb and Absorbent.

Matched Categories

1. • Chemistry
   • Fund
   • Merge
   • Receive
   • Sorb

British National Corpus

1. Verbs Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'absorb' in Verbs Frequency: #606

Anagrams for absorb »

1. bobars

How to pronounce absorb?

1. Alex

   US English

   David

   US English

   Mark

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Libby

   British

   Mia

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Hayley

   Australian

   Natasha

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

   Priya

   Indian

   Neerja

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   Zira

   US English

   Oliver

   British

   Wendy

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   Fred

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   Tessa

   South African

How to say absorb in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of absorb in Chaldean Numerology is: 8

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of absorb in Pythagorean Numerology is: 3

Examples of absorb in a Sentence

1. Oscar Wilde:

   One should absorb the colour of life, but one should never remember its details. Details are always vulgar.

2. William Osler:

   Live neither in the past nor in the future, but let each day's work absorb your entire energies, and satisfy your widest ambition.

3. Daniel Hanson:

   Oil suppliers have already been hesitant to absorb the counterparty risk of engaging with PREPA on longer-run fuel contracts, and investigations like these are unlikely to inspire new bids into the fray.

4. Phanice Lijodi:

   The best thing to do is to understand, to accept what has happened, they allow you to cry, they allow you to absorb the reality, the truth. And that, I saw, quickens healing.

5. Luis Costa:

   Lira is not only suffering because of Erdogan's continuous criticism of monetary policy. (It) sells off because the current account gap still translates into a sizeable daily financing need, heavy reliance on short-term dollar borrowing makes this balance of payments very volatile. As usual, currency is the first channel to absorb the shocks.

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