Meaning & use
absorb
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Meanings
verbtransitive
To take in a liquid, gas, heat, light, or other substance into a material or body.
Grammar: Takes an object: a sponge absorbs water; no preposition is needed for the substance taken in.
Patterns
- absorb water
- absorb heat
- absorb light
- absorb into something
The towel did not absorb much water after one wash.
Dark pavement absorbs heat during the afternoon and releases it at night.
Some plants absorb minerals through their roots.
verbtransitive
To take in information, ideas, or an experience gradually until they are understood.
Grammar: Also takes an object: absorb the lesson; the learner is doing mental taking in, not physical soaking.
Patterns
- absorb information
- absorb the details
- absorb knowledge
She needed a quiet hour to absorb the instructions before starting.
Children often absorb language patterns without formal rules.
The documentary gave viewers a lot to absorb in fifty minutes.
verbtransitivefigurative
To completely hold someone's attention so they become unaware of other things.
Grammar: Common in the passive pattern be absorbed in something: He was absorbed in the map.
Patterns
- absorb someone completely
- be absorbed in something
- absorb someone's attention
The puzzle absorbed him so completely that he missed the announcement.
She was absorbed in a novel when the train reached her station.
The game absorbed the children's attention for the whole evening.
Word forms
| third person singular | absorbs |
|---|---|
| past tense | absorbed |
| past participle | absorbed |
| -ing form | absorbing |
Common combinations
- absorb water
- Rice fields need soil that can absorb water without flooding nearby paths.
- absorb heat
- A light roof absorbs less heat than a dark one.
- absorb information
- Students absorb information better when examples are concrete.
- be absorbed in something
- He was so absorbed in the recipe that he forgot the soup.
- absorb costs
- The small shop could not absorb the rising cost of packaging.
Synonyms and how they differ
- soak up
- Soak up is more physical and informal, especially for liquids or sun; absorb also covers information and attention.
- assimilate
- Assimilate is formal and mental, meaning to integrate new ideas into what one already knows.
- engross
- Engross fits the attention sense and usually appears as be engrossed in, not for liquids.
- take in
- Take in is flexible and conversational; it can mean understand, deceive, or receive, so context matters.
Opposites
Word family
- absorption noun
- The process of absorbing or being absorbed.
- absorbent adjective
- Able to soak up liquid easily.
- absorbed adjective
- Fully occupied by something, usually absorbed in.
- absorbing adjective
- Holding attention intensely; an absorbing story.
- absorbable adjective
- Technical word meaning capable of being absorbed.
Commonly confused: absorb or adsorb? absorb or absorbed?
absorb vs adsorb
Adsorb is a technical term for molecules sticking to a surface; absorb means being taken into a material.
absorb vs absorbed
Absorbed is the past form or adjective; absorb is the base verb used before an object.
Practice
The new employee needed time to ___ the safety rules before operating the machine.
Choose one answer.
Absorb information means to take it in and understand it gradually. Emit and repel describe giving out or pushing away, and absolve means free from guilt.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “absorb”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.