Meaning

• 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.

• To engulf, as in water; to swallow up.

• To suck up; to drink in; to imbibe, like a sponge or as the lacteals of the body; to chemically take in.

• To take in energy and convert it, as

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

• To engross or engage wholly; to occupy fully

• To occupy or consume time.

• Assimilate mentally.

• To assume or pay for as part of a commercial transaction.

• To defray the costs.

• To accept or purchase in quantity.