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deeply interested or involved; preoccupied:
He had an absorbed look on his face.
to suck up or drink in (a liquid); soak up:
A sponge absorbs water.
to swallow up the identity or individuality of; incorporate:
The empire absorbed many small nations.
to involve the full attention of; to engross or engage wholly:
so absorbed in a book that he did not hear the bell.
to occupy or fill:
This job absorbs all of my time.
to take up or receive by chemical or molecular action:
Carbonic acid is formed when water absorbs carbon dioxide.
to take in without echo, recoil, or reflection:
to absorb sound and light; to absorb shock.
to take in and utilize:
The market absorbed all the computers we could build. Can your brain absorb all this information?
to pay for (costs, taxes, etc.):
The company will absorb all the research costs.
Archaic. to swallow up.
Contemporary Examples

They were so absorbed by the experience that they hardly noticed the extreme heat and difficult conditions.
George Clooney: Foreign Affairs Buff Rebecca Dana June 14, 2010

Even without the political dynamics, I think there are practical limits to how fast immigrants can be absorbed.
Our Demographic Decline Megan McArdle December 3, 2012

Every one of those old Black Panther themes has been absorbed and redeployed by modern gun rights militants.
The Roots of Anti-Government Gun Culture in America David Frum March 23, 2013

Jewish refugees were absorbed in Israel and the West; the Palestinians were left to fester in camps.
Denigrating Jewish Refugees Lyn Julius August 8, 2012

It is a tribute to the United States that fair criticisms are absorbed not rejected.
Shawcross Defends Guantanamo Bay David Frum January 17, 2012

Historical Examples

They absorbed her atmosphere and after each followed a period of mental asphyxy.
Weighed and Wanting George MacDonald

He stood in deep shadow and the girl had been too absorbed in the play to note his coming.
The Spenders Harry Leon Wilson

It had absorbed the American accent, the American clip and drawl.
The Love Affairs of Pixie Mrs George de Horne Vaizey

They strolled together up the road past him, absorbed in themselves.
In the Midst of Alarms Robert Barr

He went about absorbed in the interest and the actuality of this dream.
The Rainbow D. H. (David Herbert) Lawrence

adjective
engrossed; deeply interested
verb (transitive)
to soak or suck up (liquids)
to engage or occupy (the interest, attention, or time) of (someone); engross
to receive or take in (the energy of an impact)
(physics) to take in (all or part of incident radiated energy) and retain the part that is not reflected or transmitted
to take in or assimilate; incorporate
to accept and find a market for (goods, etc)
to pay for as part of a commercial transaction: the distributor absorbed the cost of transport
(chem) to cause to undergo a process in which one substance, usually a liquid or gas, permeates into or is dissolved by a liquid or solid: porous solids absorb water, hydrochloric acid absorbs carbon dioxide Compare adsorb
v.

early 15c., from Middle French absorber (Old French assorbir, 13c.), from Latin absorbere “to swallow up,” from ab- “from” (see ab-) + sorbere “suck in,” from PIE root *srebh- “to suck, absorb” (cf. Armenian arbi “I drank,” Greek rhopheo “to sup greedily up, gulp down,” Lithuanian srebiu “to drink greedily”). Figurative meaning “to completely grip (one’s) attention” is from 1763. Related: Absorbed; absorbing.

absorb ab·sorb (əb-sôrb’, -zôrb’)
v. ab·sorbed, ab·sorb·ing, ab·sorbs

To take in by absorption.

To reduce the intensity of transmitted light.