absorb

verb

1. (transitive)To include so that it no longer has separate existence; to overwhelm; to cause to disappear as if by swallowing up; to incorporate; to assimilate; to take in and use up.

   “Dark oblivion soon absorbs them all.”

   “In some countries, the large cities absorb the wealth and fashion of the nation; they are the only fixed abodes of elegant and intelligent society, and the country is inhabited almost entirely by boorish peasantry.”

   “As a microbullet impacts the graphene, the diameter of the cone it creates – determined by later examination of the petals – provides a way to measure how much energy the graphene absorbs before breaking.”

   “Wages absorbed 80% of the total revenue (which was inescapable), and they were rising at almost twice the rate of fares, which were pegged by law.”

2. (obsolete, transitive)To engulf, as in water; to swallow up.

   “to be absorpt, or swallowed up, in a lake of fire and brimstone.”

3. (transitive)To suck up; to drink in; to imbibe, like a sponge or as the lacteals of the body; to chemically take in.
4. (intransitive)To be absorbed, or sucked in; to sink in.

   “The drops of water slowly absorbed into the dry sponge.”

5. (transitive)To take in energy and convert it.

   “Heat, light, and electricity are absorbed in the substances into which they pass.”

6. (transitive)To take in energy and convert it.
7. (transitive)To take in energy and convert it.
8. (transitive)To take in energy and convert it.
9. (transitive)To engross or engage wholly; to occupy fully.

   “Geeka was cooking dinner. As the little girl played she prattled continuously to her companion, propped in a sitting position with a couple of twigs. She was totally absorbed in the domestic duties of Geeka – so much so that she did not note the gentle swaying of the branches of the tree above her as they bent to the body of the creature that had entered them stealthily from the jungle.”

   “Livonian affairs held him tight, and were to absorb him for many a year.”

10. (transitive)To occupy or consume time.
11. (transitive)To assimilate mentally.

    “If we fail to absorb the lessons of history, we are doomed to repeat them.”

12. (transitive)To assume or pay for as part of a commercial transaction.

    “Among the most debatable is the contention that the profit margins of small employers are insufficient to absorb the costs of health insurance”

13. (transitive)To defray the costs.

    “I’ll absorb the charge for the window replacement.”

14. (transitive)To accept or purchase in quantity.