Definition
To speak using long or obscure words.
In Context
- "I swear, I don't know where you get all this swallowing the dictionary business!” - He himself never read anything but the ticker and the sporting news."
- "Knowledge is deposited in (virtual and real) libraries. People who “swallow” the dictionary are articulate, eloquent and verbally dextrous. They have a greater store of words. Knowledge is captured in books, which is why the number of books in a household contains an excellent index of the social class of that house."
- "“You swallowed the dictionary?” said Mrs. Black, with an ingratiating smile."
- "When I used a couple of words that an Uncle from the Boston States considered beyond my years, he asked me if I had swallowed the dictionary."