Fancy medical word for it is “peristalsis”, and it’s basically your esophagus flexing the muscle it’s made of in a wave like motion to move food from the mouth to the stomach. It’s the same method used in your small and large intestines as well.
[Heres a video explaining it in just over a minute](https://youtu.be/VwiGXtNnh1E)
Two things are at work here – gravity and peristalsis. Your esophagus is lined with smooth muscle that contracts in a sequence. These contractions literally push the food down toward your stomach. This action is called peristalsis. The same action also pushes it through your intestines after the stomach releases it.
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