absorb
part of speech
verb (absorb, absorbs, absorbed, absorbing)
meaning for a pupil
1) To absorb a liquid, gas or heat is to take it in, as a sponge takes in water. tree →
2) To absorb information is to learn it and understand it. tree →
3) To be absorbed in something is to be so interested in it that you notice nothing else. tree →
4) To absorb a shock or blow is to take its force so it does less harm. tree →
sense in the lessons
In science, absorbent materials (paper towels, sponges, cotton, soil) soak up water, and testing which material absorbs most is a common fair-test experiment. Dark colours absorb more light and heat than light colours, which reflect it — so black cars get hot in summer. Plants absorb water through roots; the body absorbs food through the gut. Helmets and trainers absorb impact. Phrases: «absorb water», «absorbed in», «absorb light», «absorb the shock».
examples
- A sponge absorbs water. tree →
- Paper towels absorb spills. tree →
- Black clothes absorb more heat from the Sun. tree →
- Plant roots absorb water from the soil. tree →
- She was so absorbed in her book that she didn't hear me. tree →
- A bike helmet absorbs the force of a fall. tree →
- I need time to absorb all this information. tree →
- Which material absorbs the most water? tree →
- Crimthann absorbed instruction like a sponge and digested it as rapidly. tree →
note
Regular verb: absorbed. Adjective: absorbent; noun: absorption (note the p). «Absorbed in» = very interested. In science, «absorb» (take in) is the opposite of «reflect» for light and of «repel» for water.
In the corpora
- Japan has strict earthquake rules, and many buildings have flexible frames or shock-absorbing bases that let them move without breaking.
- Never run a microwave empty, because nothing absorbs the energy and it can be damaged.
- Spinach contains iron, but the body absorbs it poorly, so spinach is not the iron superfood of cartoons.
- An object looks the colour of the light it reflects; it absorbs the other colours.
- A black object absorbs almost all light, and a white object reflects almost all of it.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «absorb» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.