v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Absorbed p. pr. & vb. n. Absorbing. ] [ L. absorbere; ab + sorbere to suck in, akin to Gr. &unr_;: cf. F. absorber. ] 1. To swallow up; to engulf; to overwhelm; to cause to disappear as if by swallowing up; to use up; to include. “Dark oblivion soon absorbs them all.” Cowper. [ 1913 Webster ]

The large cities absorb the wealth and fashion. W. Irving. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To suck up; to drink in; to imbibe; as a sponge or as the lacteals of the body. Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To engross or engage wholly; to occupy fully; as, absorbed in study or the pursuit of wealth. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To take up by cohesive, chemical, or any molecular action, as when charcoal absorbs gases. So heat, light, and electricity are absorbed or taken up in the substances into which they pass. Nichol. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- To Absorb, Engross, Swallow up, Engulf. These words agree in one general idea, that of completely taking up. They are chiefly used in a figurative sense and may be distinguished by a reference to their etymology. We speak of a person as absorbed (lit., drawn in, swallowed up) in study or some other employment of the highest interest. We speak of a person as ebgrossed (lit., seized upon in the gross, or wholly) by something which occupies his whole time and thoughts, as the acquisition of wealth, or the attainment of honor. We speak of a person (under a stronger image) as swallowed up and lost in that which completely occupies his thoughts and feelings, as in grief at the death of a friend, or in the multiplied cares of life. We speak of a person as engulfed in that which (like a gulf) takes in all his hopes and interests; as, engulfed in misery, ruin, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

That grave question which had begun to absorb the Christian mind -- the marriage of the clergy. Milman. [ 1913 Webster ]

Too long hath love engrossed Britannia's stage,
And sunk to softness all our tragic rage. Tickell. [ 1913 Webster ]

Should not the sad occasion swallow up
My other cares? Addison. [ 1913 Webster ]

And in destruction's river
Engulf and swallow those. Sir P. Sidney. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The state or quality of being absorbable. Graham (Chemistry). [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Cf. F. absorbable. ] Capable of being absorbed or swallowed up. Kerr. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. 1. 1 wholly absorbed as in thought that engrossed look -- that absorbed and rapt delight
Syn. -- engrossed, intent, rapt, wrapped [ WordNet 1.5 ]

2. not allowed to pass through; -- said of radiant waves such as light the absorbed light intensity [ WordNet 1.5 ]

3. taken in through the pores of a surface the absorbed water expanded the sponge [ WordNet 1.5 ]

adv. In a manner as if wholly engrossed or engaged. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. 1. 1 inducing or promoting absorption
Syn. -- sorbefacient [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. Absorptiveness. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. Anything which absorbs. AS [ 1913 Webster ]

The ocean, itself a bad absorbent of heat. Darwin. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Med.) Any substance which absorbs and neutralizes acid fluid in the stomach and bowels, as magnesia, chalk, etc.; also a substance e. g., iodine which acts on the absorbent vessels so as to reduce enlarged and indurated parts. AS [ 1913 Webster ]

3. pl. (Physiol.) The vessels by which the processes of absorption are carried on, as the lymphatics in animals, the extremities of the roots in plants. AS [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. absorbens, p. pr. of absorbere. ] Absorbing; swallowing; absorptive. [ 1913 Webster ]

Absorbent ground (Paint.), a ground prepared for a picture, chiefly with distemper, or water colors, by which the oil is absorbed, and a brilliancy is imparted to the colors. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who, or that which, absorbs. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Swallowing, engrossing; as, an absorbing pursuit. -- Ab*sorb"ing, adv. [1913 Webster]

n. Absorption. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. to attract and bind (molecules of a substance in a fluid) so as to form a thin layer on the surface, by non-electrostatic forces; to bind by adsorption. Distinguished from absorb, in which the foreign substance penetrates the body of the absorbing material.
Syn. -- surface assimilation [ WordNet 1.5 ]

v. t. [ Pref. dis- + orb. ] To throw out of the proper orbit; to unsphere. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. capable of absorbing energy; as, energy-absorbing bumpers reduce injury and damage in vehicle collisions. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

a. [ Hydro-, 2 + sorbic. ] (Chem.) Pertaining to, or designating, an acid obtained from sorbic acid when this takes up hydrogen; as, hydrosorbic acid. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. not capable of absorbing or soaking up (liquids). Opposite of absorbent. [ Narrower terms: repellent, resistant ] [ WordNet 1.5 ]

adj. lacking capacity to adsorb or cause to accumulate on a surface. Opposite of adsorbent. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

v. t. To absorb again; to draw in, or imbibe, again what has been effused, extravasated, or thrown off; to swallow up again; as, to reabsorb chyle, lymph, etc.; -- used esp. of fluids. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ L. reorbere; pref. re- re- + sorbere to suck or drink in. ] 1. To swallow up. [ 1913 Webster ]

Now lifted by the tide, and now resorbed. Young. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Biol.) to absorb (something which has been secreted or exuded by the same organism). [ PJC ]

a. [ L. resorbens, p. pr. of resorbere. ] Swallowing up. Wodhull. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.[ L. sorbus the tree, sorbum the fruit; cf. F. sorbe. See Service tree. ] (Bot.) (a) The wild service tree (Pyrus torminalis) of Europe; also, the rowan tree. (b) The fruit of these trees. [ 1913 Webster ]

Sorb apple, the fruit of the sorb, or wild service tree. --
Sorb tree, the wild service tree. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. F. sorbate. See Sorbic. ] (Chem.) A salt of sorbic acid. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. sorbere to suck in, absorb + faciens, p. pr. of facere to make. ] (Med.) Producing absorption. -- n. A medicine or substance which produces absorption. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. sorbens, p. pr. of sorbere to suck in, to absorb. ] An absorbent. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. sorbet or It. sorbetto or Sp. sorbete, from the same source as E. sherbet. See Sherbet. ] A kind of beverage; sherbet. Smolett. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Cf. F. sorbique. See Sorb. ] (Chem.) Pertaining to, or obtained from, the rowan tree, or sorb; specifically, designating an acid, C&unr_;H&unr_;CO&unr_;H, of the acetylene series, found in the unripe berries of this tree, and extracted as a white crystalline substance. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. sorbilis, fr. sorbere to suck in, to drink down. ] Fit to be drunk or sipped. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Chem.) An unfermentable sugar, isomeric with glucose, found in the ripe berries of the rowan tree, or sorb, and extracted as a sweet white crystalline substance; -- called also mountain-ash sugar. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. sorbus service tree. ] (Chem.) A sugarlike substance, isomeric with mannite and dulcite, found with sorbin in the ripe berries of the sorb, and extracted as a sirup or a white crystalline substance. -- Sor*bit"ic a. [1913 Webster]

n. [ L. sorbitio. ] The act of drinking or sipping. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

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a. Belonging to the Sorbonne or to a Sorbonist. Bale. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. sorboniste. ] A doctor of the Sorbonne, or theological college, in the University of Paris, founded by Robert de Sorbon, a. d. 1252. It was suppressed in the Revolution of 1789. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Not absorbable; specifically (Physiol.), not capable of absorption; unable to pass by osmosis into the circulating blood; as, the unabsorbable portion of food. [ 1913 Webster ]