To soak or suck up, to engage or occupy, to receive or take in, to retain the part that is not reflected or transmitted.

1a: to take in (something, such as water) in a natural or gradual way
a sponge absorbs water
charcoal absorbs gas
plant roots absorb water
b: to take in (knowledge, attitudes, etc.) : ACQUIRE, LEARN
… convictions absorbed in youth …
— M. R. Cohen
c: USE UP, CONSUME
The fever absorbed her strength.
His work absorbs all his time and attention.
2: to take in and make part of an existent whole
the capacity of a country to absorb new immigrants
3: to engage or engross wholly
an interest that absorbs her completely
absorbed in thought
4a(1): to receive without recoil or echo
provided with a sound-absorbing surface
(2): ENDURE, SUSTAIN
absorbing hardships
(3): ASSUME, BEAR
The expenses were absorbed by the company.
b: to transform (radiant energy) into a different form especially with a resulting rise in temperature
The earth absorbs the sun's rays.

I went to see Willie Doherty talk at the National Gallery where he spoke about his photographs of landscapes. All of the work contained these sad, ordinary locations. At first what appears to be slightly banal images begin to reveal traces or fragments of the context they sit within; be it borders or sites of violence or abandonment. There are hints of histories there to be read. “When trauma happens in a certain place, where does it go?” Willie asked the room. I didn’t have an answer. He went on to speak about how the land might absorb these things that happen on it, within it or through it. I think about that on more days than not. I tread gently and listen out for the stories in the soil.

absorption

soak

suck

My wallpaper is not yellow*, but grey. Grey like my days. Trapped thoughts drawn out by time have reverberated; they have distorted and disfigured only to be absorbed by the enclosing walls of this room. Where else could they go? In the pale yellow moonlight they scream back to me in ghostly timbre

trauma absorbed by body

time absorbed by space

Light absorption is a process by which light is absorbed and converted into energy. An example of this process is photosynthesis in plants. However, light absorption doesn’t occur exclusively in plants, but in all creatures/inorganic substances. Absorption depends on the electromagnetic frequency of the light and object’s nature of atoms.

Retain