/ˈswɪŋ/
OriginFrom Middle English swyngen, from Old English swingan, from Proto-West Germanic *swingan, from Proto-Germanic *swinganą (compare Low German swingen, German schwingen, Dutch zwingen, Swedish svinga), from Proto-Indo-European *swenk-, *sweng- (compare Scottish Gaelic seang (“thin”)). Related to swink.
- intransitiveTo rotate about an off-centre fixed point.
“The plant swung in the breeze.”
“With one accord the tribe swung rapidly toward the frightened cries, and there found Terkoz holding an old female by the hair and beating her unmercifully with his great hands.”
“The starliner swung into orbit around the planet Coruscant, and beyond the observation bubble appeared a glittering expanse of a billion golden lights. Through a thousand centuries of strife, those li”
- intransitiveTo dance.
- intransitiveTo ride on a swing.
“The children laughed as they swung.”
- intransitiveTo participate in the swinging lifestyle; to participate in wifeswapping.
“We find it difficult to meet couples our age, and often swing with single, straight men. We have rules: no married guys cheating on their wives, no one too young or too old, and no one who supports Tr”
“My husband wasn’t so lucky and didn’t get to swing at all so was very disappointed. I’m desperate to do it all again but he’s not so keen.”
- intransitiveTo hang from the gallows; to be punished by hanging, swing for something or someone; (often hyperbolic) to be severely punished.
““It's all clear,” he whispered. “Have you the chisel and the bags? Great Scott! Jump, Archie, jump, and I'll swing for it!”
Sherlock Holmes had sprung out and seized the intruder by the collar. The ot”
- intransitiveTo move sideways in its trajectory.
- transitive(of a bowler) To make the ball move sideways in its trajectory.
- intransitiveTo fluctuate or change.
“It wasn't long before the crowd's mood swung towards restless irritability.”
- transitiveTo move (an object) backward and forward; to wave.
“He swung his sword as hard as he could.”
- transitiveTo change (a numerical result); especially to change the outcome of an election.
- slang, transitiveTo make (something) work; especially to afford (something) financially.
“If it’s not too expensive, I think we can swing it.”
- transitiveTo play notes that are in pairs by making the first of the pair slightly longer than written (augmentation) and the second shorter, resulting in a bouncy, uneven rhythm.
- intransitive, transitiveTo move one's arm in a punching motion.
- transitiveIn dancing, to turn around in a small circle with one's partner, holding hands or arms.
“"to swing one's partner", or simply "to swing"”
- transitiveTo admit or turn something for the purpose of shaping it; said of a lathe.
“The lathe can swing a pulley of 12 inches diameter.”
- transitiveTo put (a door, gate, etc.) on hinges so that it can swing or turn.
- To turn round by action of wind or tide when at anchor.
“A ship swings with the tide.”
- To turn in a different direction.
“Soon after departure, we cross the invisible border into Scotland to enjoy more stunning coastal scenery, before the line finally swings inland at Burnmouth to traverse pine-clad valleys, shadowed by ”
- To be sexually oriented.
“swing both ways”
“"The Jumping Place," the second play we did, was directed by the author, and the whole cast of seven was straight. We don't ask when somebody comes here how they swing, only that they commit themselve”
- countable, uncountableThe act, or an instance, of swinging.
“For a time he kept to the ground, but finally, discovering no spoor indicative of nearby meat, he took to the trees. With the first dizzy swing from tree to tree all the old joy of living swept over h”
- countable, uncountableThe manner in which something is swung.
“He worked tirelessly to improve his golf swing.”
“Door swing indicates direction the door opens.”
“the swing of a pendulum”
- countable, uncountableThe sweep or compass of a swinging body.
- countable, uncountableA line, cord, or other thing suspended and hanging loose, upon which anything may swing.
- countable, uncountableA hanging seat that can swing back and forth, in a children's playground, for acrobats in a circus, or on a porch for relaxing.
“To Edward […] he was terrible, nerve-inflaming, poisonously asphyxiating. He sat rocking himself in the late Mr. Churchill's swing chair, smoking and twaddling.”
“A German court has ruled that a landlord was within her rights to evict a man for persistently using a squeaky swing set as a sex prop in his flat late at night.”
- countable, uncountableAn energetic and acrobatic late-1930s partner-based dance style, also known as jitterbug and lindy-hop.
- countable, uncountableThe genre of music associated with this dance style.
“It makes no diff'rence / if it's sweet or hot. / Just give that rhythm / ev'rything you've got! / It don't mean a thing / if it ain't got that swing.”
- countable, uncountableThe amount of change towards or away from something.
“Miss Pole came round with a swing to as vehement a belief in the sorrowful tale as she had been sceptical before […]”
- countable, uncountableIn an election, the increase or decrease in the number of votes for opposition parties compared with votes for the incumbent party.
“The polls showed a wide swing to Labour.”
- countable, uncountableSideways movement of the ball as it flies through the air.
- countable, uncountableCapacity of a turning lathe, as determined by the diameter of the largest object that can be turned in it.
- countable, uncountableIn a musical theater production, a performer who understudies several roles.
“I started as a swing. I mostly played Joanne and Mrs. Jefferson, the “Seasons of Love” soloist. I closed it out. So I was there for about the last four or five years.”
- countable, uncountableA basic dance step in which a pair link hands and turn round together in a circle.
- countable, uncountableThe maximum amount of change that has occurred or can occur; the sum of the maximum changes in any direction.
“Jesus' finishing has been one of the main concerns - since the start of last season the 23-year-old has underperformed his Premier League expected goals tally by 6.97goals ^([sic]) (in short, he has s”
- countable, obsolete, uncountableFree course; unrestrained liberty.
“Take thy swing.”
“To prevent anything which may prove an obstacle on the full swing of his genius.”
- countable, uncountableInfluence or power of anything put in motion.
- countable, uncountableA type of hook with the arm more extended.
Formsswings(present, singular, third-person) · swinging(participle, present) · swung(past) · swang(archaic, dialectal, past) · swung(participle, past) · swang(archaic, dialectal, participle, past) · swungen(archaic, participle, past) · swings(plural) · Swings(plural)