 4 definitions found
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
absorbed
adjective
1: wholly absorbed as in thought; "deep in thought"; "that
engrossed look or rapt delight"; "the book had her
totally engrossed"; "enwrapped in dreams"; "so intent
on this fantastic...narrative that she hardly
stirred"- Walter de la Mare; "rapt with wonder";
"wrapped in thought" [syn: {engrossed}, {enwrapped}, {intent},
{rapt}, {wrapped}]
2: retained without reflection; "the absorbed light intensity"
3: taken in through the pores of a surface; "the absorbed water
expanded the sponge"
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
absorbed \absorbed\ adjective
1. 1 wholly absorbed as in thought that engrossed look --
that absorbed and rapt delight
Syn: engrossed, intent, rapt, wrapped
[WordNet 1.5]
2. not allowed to pass through; -- said of radiant waves such
as light the absorbed light intensity
[WordNet 1.5]
3. taken in through the pores of a surface the absorbed water
expanded the sponge
[WordNet 1.5]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Absorb \Ab*sorb"\, verb (used with an object) [imp. & p. p. {Absorbed}; p. pr. & vb.
n. {Absorbing}.] [L. absorbere; ab + sorbere to suck in, akin
to Gr. ?: cf. F. absorber.]
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.'' --Cowper.
The large cities absorb the wealth and fashion. --W.
Irving.
2. To suck up; to drink in; to imbibe; as a sponge or as the
lacteals of the body. --Bacon.
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. --Nichol.
Syn: To {Absorb}, {Engross}, {Swallow up}, {Engulf}.
Usage: 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. --Milman.
Too long hath love engrossed Britannia's stage,
And sunk to softness all our tragic rage.
--Tickell.
Should not the sad occasion swallow up
My other cares? --Addison.
And in destruction's river
Engulf and swallow those. --Sir P.
Sidney.
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
83 Moby Thesaurus words for "absorbed":
absent, absentminded, absorbed in, abstracted, bemused, buried,
buried in, buried in thought, castle-building, caught up in,
concentrating, contemplating, contemplative, daydreaming,
daydreamy, deep, devoted, devoted to, dreaming, dreamy, drowsing,
ecstatic, elsewhere, engaged, engaged in thought, engrossed,
engrossed in, engrossed in thought, enmeshed in, entangled in,
far-gone, faraway, half-awake, immersed, immersed in,
immersed in thought, implicated in, in a reverie, in the clouds,
intent, intent on, introspective, involved, involved in, lost,
lost in, lost in thought, meditating, meditative, monomaniacal,
monopolized, mooning, moonraking, museful, musing, napping,
nodding, oblivious, obsessed, occupied, pensive, pipe-dreaming,
preoccupied, rapt, single-minded, somewhere else, stargazing,
studious, studying, submerged in, swept up, taken up,
taken up with, tied up in, totally absorbed, transported,
unconscious, woolgathering, wrapped, wrapped in,
wrapped in thought, wrapped up, wrapped up in
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