different between contain vs absorb

English

Etymology

From Middle English, borrowed from Old French contenir, from Latin continere (“to hold or keep together, comprise, contain”), combined form of con- (“together”) + tene? (“to hold”).

Pronunciation

• enPR: k?n-t?n?, IPA^(key): /k?n?te?n/
• Rhymes: -e?n
• Hyphenation: con?tain

Verb

contain (third-person singular simple present contains, present participle containing, simple past and past participle contained)

1. (transitive) To hold inside.
2. (transitive) To include as a part.
3. (transitive) To put constraint upon; to restrain; to confine; to keep within bounds.

   • [The king's] only Person is oftentimes instead of an Army, to contain the unruly People from a thousand evil Occasions.
4. (mathematics, of a set etc., transitive) To have as an element or subset.

5. (obsolete, intransitive) To restrain desire; to live in continence or chastity.

   • But if they cannot contain, let them marry.

Synonyms

• (hold inside): enclose, inhold
• (include as part): comprise, embody, incorporate, inhold
• (limit by restraint): control, curb, repress, restrain, restrict, stifle; See also Thesaurus:curb

Antonyms

• (include as part): exclude, omit
• (limit by restraint): release, vent

Usage notes

• This is generally a stative verb that rarely takes the continuous inflection. See Category:English stative verbs

Related terms

• container
• containable
• containment
• content
• continence

Translations

Further reading

• contain in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• contain in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• contain at OneLook Dictionary Search

Anagrams

• actinon, cantion

English

Etymology

From Middle French absorber, from Old French assorbir, from Latin absorbe? (“swallow up”), from ab- (“from”) +? sorbe? (“suck in, swallow”). Compare French absorber.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?b?z??b/, /?b?s??b/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /æb?s??b/, /æb?z??b/, /?b?s??b/, /?b?z??b/
• Rhymes: -??(r)b
• Hyphenation: ab?sorb

Verb

absorb (third-person singular simple present absorbs, present participle absorbing, simple past and past participle absorbed or (archaic) absorpt)

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. [first attested c. 1350 to 1470.]
   • 1782, William Cowper, On Observing some Names of Little Note

     Dark oblivion soon absorbs them all.
2. (transitive, obsolete) To engulf, as in water; to swallow up. [Attested from the late 15th century until the late 18th century.]
3. (transitive) To suck up; to drink in; to imbibe, like a sponge or as the lacteals of the body; to chemically take in. [first attested in the early 17th century.]
4. (transitive, physics, chemistry) To take in energy and convert it, as[first attested in the early 18th century.]
   1. (transitive, physics) in receiving a physical impact or vibration without recoil.
   2. (transitive, physics) in receiving sound energy without repercussion or echo.
   3. (transitive, physics) taking in radiant energy and converting it to a different form of energy, like heat.

5. (transitive) To engross or engage wholly; to occupy fully. [first attested in the late 18th century.]
   • 1904, Kazimierz Waliszewski, translated by Lady Mary Loyd, Ivan the Terrible Part 2 Chapter 3

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

6. (transitive) To occupy or consume time. [first attested in the mid 19th century.]
7. (transitive) Assimilate mentally. [first attested in the late 19th century.]
8. (transitive, business) To assume or pay for as part of a commercial transaction.
9. (transitive) To defray the costs.
10. (transitive) To accept or purchase in quantity.

Conjugation

Synonyms

• (to include so that it no longer has separate existence): assimilate, engulf, incorporate, swallow up, overwhelm
• (to suck up or drink in): draw, drink in, imbibe, soak up, sop up, suck, suck up, steep, take in, take up
• (to consume completely): use up
• (to occupy fully): engage, engross, immerse, monopolize, occupy
• (finance: to assume or pay for): assume, bear, pay for, take in

Antonyms

• (physics: to take up by chemical or physical action): emit

Derived terms

Translations

See also

• adsorb

Further reading

• Lesley Brown, editor-in-chief; William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, editors (2002) , “absorb”, in The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles, 5th edition, Oxford; New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, ?ISBN, page 9

Anagrams

• Brabos, bobars, robabs

Romanian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ab?sorb]

Verb

absorb

1. first-person singular present indicative of absorbi
2. third-person plural present indicative of absorbi
3. first-person singular present subjunctive of absorbi