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Absorbed   /əbzˈɔrbd/   Listen
verb
Absorb  v. t.  (past & past part. absorbed; pres. part. absorbing)  
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." "The large cities absorb the wealth and fashion."
2.
To suck up; to drink in; to imbibe; as a sponge or as the lacteals of the body.
3.
To engross or engage wholly; to occupy fully; as, absorbed in study or the pursuit of wealth.
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.
Synonyms: 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. "That grave question which had begun to absorb the Christian mind the marriage of the clergy." "Too long hath love engrossed Britannia's stage, And sunk to softness all our tragic rage." "Should not the sad occasion swallow up My other cares?" "And in destruction's river Engulf and swallow those."


adjective
absorbed  adj.  
1.
Wholly absorbed as in thought "That engrossed look that absorbed and rapt delight"
Synonyms: engrossed, intent, rapt, wrapped
2.
Not allowed to pass through; said of radiant waves such as light "The absorbed light intensity"
3.
Taken in through the pores of a surface "The absorbed water expanded the sponge"





Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48


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"Absorbed" Quotes from Famous Books



... He was intent, absorbed. As they watched, they saw his hands close convulsively on the sheet he was holding, while his lips muttered some words that made the detective ...
— The Chief Legatee • Anna Katharine Green
... still thus absorbed I heard a sudden shout, the trampling of cavalry, and the sound of trumpets. I again raised my eyes. A strong body of French troopers, covered with the dust of the high-road, and evidently exhausted by a long journey, were passing along ...
— Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine - Volume 55, No. 343, May 1844 • Various
... So absorbed was the captain with this extraordinary scene, that he remained an hour on the staging, watching the course of events. The breakfasts were soon over, having been later than common, and a little hurried; then commenced the more important occupations of the day. A field was already half ...
— Wyandotte • James Fenimore Cooper
... long noses, the larger freckled one surmounted by a pince-nez, the other slightly pink, as if it had absorbed the tint of the blotting-paper over which it was so continually poised, ...
— Red Pottage • Mary Cholmondeley
... a grocer for the rest of his life?—This question, which at first scarcely occurred to him, absorbed as he was in the problem of money-earning for immediate needs, at length began to press and worry. Of course he had meant nothing of the kind; his imagination had seen in the shop a temporary expedient; he had not troubled to pursue the ...
— Will Warburton • George Gissing


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