swallow

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
swallow1

▶verb

• 1 cause or allow (food, drink, etc.) to pass down the throat.

  ■ make a similar movement of the throat, especially through fear or nervousness.

• 2 take in and cause to disappear; engulf.

• 3 put up with or meekly accept.

  ■ resist expressing: he swallowed his pride.

• 4 believe (an untrue or unlikely statement) unquestioningly.

▶noun an act of swallowing something.

– derivatives
swallowable adjective,
swallower noun.

– origin OE swelgan, of Gmc origin.

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
swallow2

▶noun a migratory swift-flying insectivorous songbird with a forked tail. [Hirundo rustica and other species, family Hirundinidae.]

– origin OE swealwe, of Gmc origin.