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PlainSpell

swallow

/ˈswɑ.loʊ/verb, noun

swallow is spelled S-W-A-L-L-O-W: 7 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 7.4 times per million words in written English, the 8,669th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, swallow means “To cause (food, drink etc.) to pass from the mouth into the stomach; to take into the stomach through the throat” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in swallow?

Letters7: S-W-A-L-L-O-W
Syllables2 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing7.4 times per million words; the 8,669th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Rhymes with

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is swallow?

Swallow appears 7.4 times per million words in written English, the 8,669th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce swallow?

  • UK /ˈswɒl.əʊ/
  • /ˈswɒl.ə/
  • US /ˈswɑ.loʊ/

Swallow has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-swallow.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with swallow?

One word on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as swallow from its last stressed vowel (/ɑloʊ/):

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of swallow

  • swallows present, singular, he/she/it, plural
  • swallowing participle, present
  • swallowed participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does swallow mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

verb

  1. 1

    To cause (food, drink etc.) to pass from the mouth into the stomach; to take into the stomach through the throat.

  2. 2

    To take (something) in so that it disappears; to consume, absorb.

  3. 3

    To take food down into the stomach; to make the muscular contractions of the oesophagus to achieve this, often taken as a sign of nervousness or strong emotion.

    My throat was so sore that I was unable to swallow.

  4. 4

    To accept easily or without questions; to believe, accept.

  5. 5

    To engross; to appropriate; usually with up.

  6. 6

    To retract; to recant.

    to swallow one's opinions

  7. 7

    To put up with; to bear patiently or without retaliation.

    to swallow an affront or insult

  8. 8

    slangvulgarTo swallow semen after oral sex, as opposed to spitting it out.

noun

  1. 1

    The amount swallowed in one gulp; the act of swallowing.

    He took the aspirin with a single swallow of water.

  2. 2

    archaicA deep chasm or abyss in the earth.

  3. 3

    archaicThe mouth and throat; that which is used for swallowing; the gullet.

  4. 4

    The opening in a pulley block between the sheave and shell through which the rope passes.

  5. 5

    Any of various carbohydrate-based dishes that are swallowed without much chewing, commonly paired and eaten with various types of soup.

  6. 6

    A small, migratory bird of the Hirundinidae family with long, pointed, moon-shaped wings and a forked tail which feeds on the wing by catching insects.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Swallow in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchavaler (to cause to pass from the mouth into the stomach), déglutir (to make muscular contractions of the oesophagus), digérer (to believe or accept), gorgée, avalée (amount swallowed), hirondelle (bird)
Germanschlucken (to cause to pass from the mouth into the stomach), akzeptieren (to believe or accept), Schluck (amount swallowed), Schwalbe (bird), verschlucken (to take in, to consume), abfinden mit (to put up with; to bear patiently or without…)
Portugueseengolir, deglutir (to cause to pass from the mouth into the stomach), gole, engolida (amount swallowed), andorinha (bird)
Spanishtragar, engullir, deglutir, ingurgitar, gandir (to cause to pass from the mouth into the stomach), golondrina (bird)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does swallow come from?

From Middle English swolwen, from Old English swelgan, from Proto-West Germanic *swelgan, from Proto-Germanic *swelganą (“to swallow, revel, devour”), from Proto-Indo-European *swelk- (“to gulp”). Cognate with Dutch zwelgen (“to revel, carouse, guzzle”), German schwelgen (“to delight, indulge”), Danish svælge (“to swallow”), Norwegian Bokmål svelge (“to swallow”), Norwegian Nynorsk svelgje (“to swallow”), Swedish svälja (“to swallow, gulp”), Faroese svølgja (“to swallow”), Icelandic svelgja (“to swallow”), Old English swillan, swilian (“to swill, wash out, gargle”). See also swill.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after swallow