swig

English

Etymology

Unknown, mid 16th c. Perhaps connected with Old English swelgan (“to swallow”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /swɪɡ/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪɡ

Verb

1. To drink (usually by gulping or in a greedy or unrefined manner); to quaff.

   Synonyms: chug, gulp, guzzle, quaff

   That sailor can swig whisky with the best of 'em.

2. (obsolete) To suck.
   • Creech

     The lambkins swig the teat.

3. (nautical) To take up the last bit of slack in rigging by taking a single turn around a cleat, then hauling on the line above and below the cleat while keeping tension on the line.

   Synonym: sweating

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:drink

Translations

to drink (usually by gulping)

• Dutch: zuipen (nl)
• Finnish: ryypätä (fi), kulauttaa
• French: lamper (fr)
• Old English: oferdrincan
• Old Saxon: ovardrinkan
• Portuguese: dar uma golada
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Russian: загла́тывать (ru) impf (zaglátyvatʹ), глота́ть (ru) impf (glotátʹ), пить за́лпом impf (pitʹ zálpom), глотну́ть (ru) pf (glotnútʹ), пивну́ть pf (pivnútʹ), хлебну́ть (ru) pf (xlebnútʹ), осуши́ть за́лпом pf (osušítʹ zálpom)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: ло̀кати impf, цу̏гати impf

  Roman: lòkati (sh) impf, cȕgati (sh) impf

• Yiddish: זויפן (zoyfn)

to take up the last bit of slack in rigging

• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}

Noun

swig (plural swigs)

1. (obsolete) Drink, liquor. [1540s–?]
2. (by extension) A long draught from a drink. [from 1620s]

   Synonyms: draught, sip, swill

   • 1881–1882, Robert Louis Stevenson, “Israel Hands”, in Treasure Island, London; Paris: Cassell & Company, published 14 November 1883, →OCLC, part V (My Sea Adventure), pages 219–220:

     He looked up, however, at my coming, knocked the neck off the bottle like a man who had done the same thing often, and took a good swig, with his favourite toast of "Here's luck!"

   • 1922 February, James Joyce, “[Episode 12: The Cyclops]”, in Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company, […], →OCLC:

     And he took the last swig out of the pint.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Marryat to this entry?)

3. (obsolete) A person who drinks deeply.
4. (nautical) A tackle with ropes which are not parallel.
5. Warm beer flavoured with spices, lemon, etc.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:drink

Translations

a drink

• Finnish: ryyppy (fi), kulaus (fi), huikka (fi)
• French: lampée (fr) f
• German: Schluck (de) m, Zug (de) m
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Russian: глото́к (ru) m (glotók)
• Spanish: lingotazo m (colloquial)
• Swedish: stor klunk, slurk (sv)

Anagrams

• WSGI, wigs