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swimmer

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

English

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Etymology

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From Middle English swimmere, equivalent to swim +‎ -er. The dumplings are so called because they are often served in stew.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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swimmer (plural swimmers)

  1. One who swims.
    • 1918, Rabindranath Tagore, Nationalism‎[1], London: Macmillan, page 128:
      The swimmer who is an expert does not exhibit his muscular force by violent movements, but exhibits some power which is invisible and which shows itself in perfect grace and reposefulness.
    • 1994, Bruce Berger, There Was a River, Tucson, A.Z.; London: The University of Arizona Press, →ISBN, page 61:
      In the summer of 1992, eight beaches were closed and swimmers were warned away because of colliform bacteria, caused by boaters emptying toilets directly into the lake or onto nearby shores. Park officials may soon supply the lake with floating waste disposal systems.
  2. A protuberance on the leg of a horse.
  3. A webfooted aquatic bird.
    • 1869, Alfred Russel Wallace, The Malay Archipelago, volume II, London: Macmillan and Co., page 144:
      The number of species of birds at present known from the various islands of the Molluccan group is 265, but of these only 70 belong to the usually abundant tribes of the waders and swimmers, indicating that these are very imperfectly known.
  4. (chiefly in the plural, colloquial) A sperm.
  5. (UK, informal) A Norfolk dumpling.

Derived terms

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Translations

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