swallow

/ˈswɒləʊ/ verb

Definition

FOOD OR DRINK [T] › to move your throat in order to make food or drink go down: These tablets are too big to swallow. The snake swallowed the bird whole.

THROAT [I] › to make a movement with your throat as if you are eating, sometimes because you are nervous: It hurts when I swallow. Claire swallowed hard, opened the door and stepped inside.

ACCEPT [T] › to accept something unpleasant: They found the final decision hard to swallow.

BELIEVE [T] informal › to believe something, usually something which is not true: I told him we were journalists and he seemed to swallow it. → See also swallow your pride

(Definition of swallow verb from the Cambridge Learner's Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)