Absorb

imp. & p. p. Absorbed; p. pr. & vb. n. Absorbing

1. To swallow up; to engulf; to overwhelm; to cause to disappear as if by swallowing up; to use up; to include.

   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.

   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.