Forms: α. 1 ʓeswelʓ, swelh, 4 swelw(ȝ), Kent. zuelȝ, 4 suelhu, 4–5 swelowe, 5 swelw(h)e, swelgh, sweloghe, sweluh, 6 Sc. swellie. β. 4 swolȝ, swolw(ȝ), swolouȝ, -owhe, -ewe, 4–5 swolwe, swolow(e, 5 swolwh, 6 pl. swolues, 7 swollow. γ. 4–6 swalowe, 5 swalgh, swalo, (pl. swaloes, sualowe, sqwalowe), 5–6 swalow, (6 pl. swalous, Sc. swallie, 9 north. dial. swall(e)y), 6– swallow. [late OE. ʓeswelʓ, *swelʓ, swelh gulf, abyss, corresp. to MLG. swelch (also swalch) throat, whirlpool, gluttony, glutton, OHG. swelgo glutton (MHG. swelhe, swelch, also swalch abyss, flood), ON. svelgr whirlpool, swallower, devourer; f. swelg-: swalg- (see SWALLOW v.). The phonetic development has followed that of the verb.]
1. A deep hole or opening in the earth; a pit, gulf, abyss. Obs. exc. as in b.
α. a. 1100. in Napier, O. E. Glosses, 215/5. Hiatum, opertionem vel foveam terre, swelh.
1382. Wyclif, 1 Kings xi. 27. Salomon beeldide Mello, and euenede the swelwȝ [1388 swolowe] of the citee of Dauid.
c. 1400. Maundev. (Roxb.), viii. 29. Þare er swelghes in þe erthe allway brynnand.
β. 1382. Wyclif, Prov. xiii. 15. In the weye of dispiseris a swolwȝ [1388 a swalowe; Vulg. in itinere contemptorum vorago].
c. 1385. Chaucer, L. G. W., 1104 (Dido). This Eneas is come to Paradys Out of the swolow of helle.
1481. Caxton, Myrr., II. xviii. 106. Ther in the myddle of therthe a place whiche is called Abisme or swolowe.
γ. 1388. Swalowe [see 1382 in β].
c. 1530. Ld. Berners, Arth. Lyt. Bryt. (1814), 43. The abysme and swalowe of the earth.
1636. R. James, trans. Minucius Felix’ Octavius, 22. Into the swallow of a prodigious deepe gulfe.
1665. Manley, Grotius’ Low C. Wars, 515. They were ignorant, what Swallows and Quagmires lay hid in the deceitful Nature of the Soil.
1694. Phil. Trans., XVIII. 6. The Ground … is sunk from the level,… and ends in a very deep Circular Gulf or Swallow.
1799. Kirwan, Geol. Ess., 284. This mountain contains beds of pyrites and vast swallows.
b. spec. An opening or cavity, such as are common in limestone formations, through which a stream disappears underground: also called swallow-pit, SWALLOW-HOLE, and locally SWALLET.
1610. Holland, Camden’s Brit., 297. The [river] Mole [in Surrey] … is swallowed up, and thereof the place is called the Swallow.
1681. Beaumont, in Philos. Collect., No. 2. 3. Certain waters which … were conveyed into the ground by a swallow.
c. 1700. Kennett, MS. Lansd. 1033, Swallow-pit, where hollow caverns remain in the earth upon mine-works.
1789. E. Darwin, Bot. Gard., II. (1791), 96, note. The Swallows … or basons on some of the mountains, like Volcanic Craters, where the rain-water sinks into the earth.
1855. J. Phillips, Man. Geol., 412. Every limestone hill … shows in its swallows and moor pits the erosive power of the atmospheric water.
1895. Naturalist, 258. A streamlet … runs … eastward, for about fifty yards, and then disappears in a ‘swallow,’ to reappear in another fifty yards and resume its course.
2. A depth or abyss of water; a yawning gulf; a whirlpool. Obs. or arch.
α. a. 1100. Gloss. Aldhelm De Laud. Virg. (Napier), 119/4620. Carybdibus .i. uoraginibus, ʓeswelʓum.
c. 1330. R. Brunne, Chron. Wace (Rolls), 1453. So ar þo Nykeres faste aboute … schipmen … To som swelw [v.r. suelhu] to turne or steke, Oþer a-geyn roches to breke.
1382. Wyclif, Jonah ii. 4. Alle thi swelowis and wawis passiden on me.
1387. Trevisa, Higden (Rolls), II. 41. Bytwene þis ilond Mon and Norþ Wales, is a swelowe [MS. α. swolwȝ; 1432–50 swalo; Caxton swolow].
c. 1400. Maundev. (Roxb.), v. 16. Sum saise þat it es a swelgh [v.r. sweloghe] of þe Grauelly See.
c. 1440. Promp. Parv., 482/2. Swelwhe, of a water or of a grownde (K. swelwe, S. swelth, P. swelowe), vorago.
β. c. 1380. Wyclif, Wks. (1880), 97. Þei may be wel licned to swolwis of þe see.
1387. Trevisa, Higden (Rolls), I. 65. Þilke tweie swolwes beeþ i-cleped Scylla and Charybdis.
c. 1430. Lydg., Min. Poems (1911), 69. Future swolwys of fortunys ffloodys.
1485. Caxton, Chas. Gt., III. ii. 205. An abysme or swolowe of water.
1566. Studley, trans. Seneca’s Medea, 2649. Amyd the iustlyng swolues of seas that whot with furye frye.
γ. c. 1400. Destr. Troy, 13299. Full swift to the swalgh me swinget the flode.
1432–50. trans. Higden (Rolls), I. 65. There be other swaloes of the see in the occean.
1470–85. Malory, Arthur, XVII. ii. 691. There they myght not londe for there was a swalowe of the see.
c. 1510. Barclay, Mirr. Gd. Manners (1570), C j. Swalous, quicsandes, and fordes perillous.
a. 1533. Ld. Berners, Gold. Bk. M. Aurel. (1546), R viij. Wyll ye … entre agayne into the swalowe of the see, for to engloutte you?
1604. Meeting of Gallants, 10. And fall into the large swallow of Scylla.
1615. T. Adams, Spir. Navig., Ep. Ded. 2. What Rocks, Gulphs, Swallowes … and other perils that may endanger you are marked out.
1639. Horn & Robotham, Gate Lang. Unl., vii. § 70. A swallow, gulfe or quag-mire.
1887. Morris, Odyss., XII. 350. Better to perish gasping in the swallow of the sea.
† 3. fig. A gulf, abyss, sink (of evil). Obs.
c. 1380. Wyclif, Sel. Wks., III. 390. Also freris ben ressett, and a swolowhe of symonye,… and of thefftis.
c. 1412. Hoccleve, De Reg. Princ., 4479. He is þe swolwe þat is neuere ful: At Auerice now haue here a pul.
1426. Lydg., De Guil. Pilgr., 16293. The wofull swolwh off Dysespeyr and Desperacioun.
1563. Winȝet, trans. Vincent. Lirin., xxx. Wks. (S.T.S.), II. 63. That auld swellie of filthines.
1596. Dalrymple, trans. Leslie’s Hist. Scot., I. 118. Mony walde be drawne heidlings into the deip swallie of al abhominable vice.
1621. T. Williamson, trans. Goulart’s Wise Vieillard, 149. To draw vs out of the swallowes and gulfes of intemperance … and all … excesse.
a. 1624. Bp. M. Smith, Serm. (1632), 146. Carried head-long by a maine current of disorder, into a bottomlesse swallow of confusion.
4. The passage through which food and drink are swallowed; the throat, pharynx or gullet, or these collectively; the gorge.
13[?]. E. E. Allit. P., C. 250. A … whal … swyftely swenged hym to swepe & his swolȝ opened.
a. 1400–50. Wars Alex., 4507. Bary [read Bacy = Bacchus] he was brayne-wode for bebbing of wynes, Forþi þe swire & þe swalow þat swiere he kepis.
1608. Topsell, Serpents, 16. Heereby they … make wider their passage or swallow, for then they suddenly goble in the … meate before them.
1658. A. Fox, Würtz’ Surg., II. x. 86. [If] there is fear that a bloud vein hath been hurt, or that the swallow and throat be cut.
1745. trans. Egede’s Descr. Greenland, 87. All Sorts of Fishes … run into the wide opened Swallow of this hideous Monster.
1873. Mivart, Elem. Anat., xi. 433. The mouth … which opens behind into the swallow or pharynx.
1884. M. Mackenzie, Dis. Throat & Nose, II. 157. In most … cases it is stated that the patient had a ‘small swallow’ since childhood.
1884. Symonds, Shaks. Predecessors, iii. 115. Like a shark’s open swallow.
1902. Brit. Med. Jrnl., 5 April, Epit. Lit. 55. Those patients who have stenosis of the swallow.
transf. 1698. Fryer, Acc. E. India & P., 57. We passed to it through a narrow Bite, which expatiates into a wide Swallow.
b. Considered in relation to its capacity for swallowing; hence transf. capacity of swallowing: appetite for food or drink; voracity; also fig. appetite, relish, inclination.
1592. Nashe, P. Penilesse, 23. Thou hast a foule swallow, if it come once to carousing of humane bloud.
1596. Harington, Metam. Ajax, Prol. B v. Whose throates haue a better swallow, then their heds haue capacity.
1624. Massinger, Parl. Love, IV. v. ’Twill not down, sir! I have no swallow for ’t.
a. 1754. Fielding, Conversation, Wks. 1771, VIII. 126. Methus … measures the honesty and understanding of mankind by a capaciousness of their swallow.
1831. T. L. Peacock, Crotchet Castle, i. The Reverend Doctor Folliott, a gentleman endowed with a tolerable stock of learning, an interminable swallow, and an indefatigable pair of lungs.
1871. M. Collins, Mrq. & Merch., III. iii. 78. He … with most voracious swallow Walks into my mutton chops.
5. fig. a. in reference to consuming or ‘devouring’ (cf. SWALLOW v. 4 a).
1607. Puritan, III. iv. 58. If I fall into the hungrie swallow of the prison, I am like vtterly to perish.
1628. Feltham, Resolves, II. [I.] xlvii. 139. With what a generall swallow, Death still gapes vpon the generall world!
1688. South, Serm., Prov. xii. 22 (1697), I. 551. His Ungodly swallow, in gorging down the Estates of helpless Widows.
b. in reference to acceptance or belief (cf. SWALLOW v. 5).
1624. Middleton, Game at Chess, IV. ii. The swallow of my conscience Hath but a narrow passage.
1662. Gurnall, Chr. in Arm., verse 17. II. xxvi. § 1 (1679), 323/2. One sin will widen thy swallow a little, that thou wilt not so much strein at the next.
1677. W. Hughes, Man of Sin, II. i. 9. That the Apostles should leave the Care of all the Churches, to take up that of one Particular Church … can never go down with any but a Roman Swallow.
1697. Locke, Lett. to Molyneux, 10 April. Even the largest minds have but narrow swallows.
1757. J. H. Grose, Voy. E. Indies, 289. Mahomet … knowing as he did the reach and temper of his countrymen, he most probably adapted his religion to their swallow.
1852. Thackeray, Esmond, II. iii. Of these tales,… Mr. Esmond believed as much as he chose. His kinswoman’s greater faith had swallow for them all.
1867. Lowell, Percival, Pr. Wks. 1890, II. 155. There was no praise too ample for the easy elasticity of his swallow.
† 6. The function of swallowing; the sense of taste; transf. a taste, a small quantity tasted (in quot. fig.). Obs.
1340. Ayenb., 50. Þe mouþ heþ tuo offices huerof þe on belongeþ to þe zuelȝ ase to þe mete an to þe drinke. Ibid., 82. Hare wyt is al myswent and corupt ase þe zuelȝ of þe zyke. Ibid., 247. Þe ilke greate zuetnesse þet þe herte contemplatif uelþ … ne is bote a litel zuelȝ huerby me smackeþ hou god is zuete.
1826. Blackw. Mag., XIX. 659. Patients with callous appetites and hebetated tongues, who have lost the delighted sense of swallow.
7. A single act of swallowing; a gulp.
1822. T. G. Wainewright, Ess. & Crit. (1880), 257. I must drink this glass of sherry exactly at three swallows.
1835. J. Wilson, Noctes Ambr., Jan., Wks. 1856, IV. 225. The difference between a civilised swallow and a barbarous bolt.
1851. Mayhew, Lond. Labour, I. 207/2. When she’d had a clean swallow she says [etc.].
1882. Sala, Amer. Revis. (1885), 60. He … drank it at one swallow.
b. A quantity (esp. of liquid) swallowed at once; a mouthful swallowed.
1861. Du Chaillu, Equat. Afr., vi. 63. I took a swallow of brandy.
1883. Century Mag., XXVI. 277/1. To live like an Arab, content with a few dates and a swallow from the gourd.
1904. F. Lynde, Grafters, ii. 24. The Honorable Jasper mopped his face with a colored handkerchief and took a swallow of water from the glass on the desk.
8. a. The space between the sheave and the shell in a pulley-block, through which the rope runs. b. In a millstone: see quot. 1880.
c. 1860. H. Stuart, Seaman’s Catech., 37. Name the parts of a block. The shell, sheave,… swallow, head.
1880. J. Lomas, Alkali Trade, 217. [In a mill] the ‘swallow,’ or recess cut in the centre of the running stone, must be of ample size.
9. A fish that inflates itself by swallowing air; also called puffer, puff-fish, or swell-fish.
1876. Goode, Fishes of Bermudas, 22 Chilichthys Spengleri,… Swallow, Puff-fish.
