absorb

Meanings

1. To take in a liquid, gas, or heat.
2. To take in information or ideas and understand them.

Example sentences

• "A sponge absorbs water very quickly."

  Level B1, Meaning 1

• "Children absorb new words easily."

  Level B1, Meaning 2

• "Dark clothes absorb more heat from the sun."

  Level B2, Meaning 1

• "She was so absorbed in her book that she missed her stop."

  Level B2, Meaning 2

Synonyms and antonyms

Look-alikes and common mistakes

• adsorb : Adsorb is a science word: a surface holds a thin layer of something on its outside. Absorb means it goes inside.

Word family and forms

Forms: absorbs, absorbed, absorbing

Word partners

Words and phrases that often go with "absorb".

• absorb water
• absorb information
• absorb the shock
• absorb the cost
• absorb sound
• absorb knowledge

Idioms and phrases

be absorbed in

To be so interested in something that you notice nothing else.

"He was absorbed in a video game for hours."

Origin

Absorb comes through French from Latin absorbere, which meant to swallow up. It is built from ab, meaning from or away, and sorbere, meaning to suck in.

Checked against: Wiktionary, the free dictionary, Merriam-Webster Dictionary, Dictionary.com.

Usage notes

"Absorb" works for physical substances (a towel absorbing water) and for learning (absorbing new information), and the meaning shifts naturally between the two.

How to remember it

Think of a sponge soaking up water: absorb is what the sponge does.

Test yourself

Learn next at B1

• absorbing So interesting that it holds your full attention.
• absorption The process of a substance taking in or soaking up another substance,...
• abstain To choose not to do something, especially something enjoyable or a for...
• abstraction An idea or quality considered on its own, separate from any specific r...
• absurd So unreasonable or illogical that it seems ridiculous.
• abundant Existing in large quantities, more than enough.