swing

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English[edit]

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Pronunciation[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

From Middle English swingen, from Old English swingan, from Proto-Germanic *swinganą (compare Low German swingen, German schwingen, Dutch zwingen, Swedish svinga), from Proto-Indo-European *su̯eng- (compare Scottish Gaelic seang ‎(“thin”)).

Verb[edit]

swing ‎(third-person singular simple present swings, present participle swinging, simple past swang or swung, past participle swung or (archaic) swungen)

  1. (intransitive) To rotate about an off-centre fixed point.
    The plant swung in the breeze.
    • 1912, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Tarzan of the Apes, Chapter 12
      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.
  2. (intransitive) To dance.
  3. (intransitive) To ride on a swing.
    The children laughed as they swung.
  4. (intransitive) To participate in the swinging lifestyle; to participate in wife-swapping.
  5. (intransitive) To hang from the gallows.
  6. (intransitive, cricket, of a ball) to move sideways in its trajectory.
  7. (intransitive) To fluctuate or change.
    It wasn't long before the crowd's mood swung towards restless irritability.
  8. (transitive) To move (an object) backward and forward; to wave.
    He swung his sword as hard as he could.
  9. (transitive) To change (a numerical result); especially to change the outcome of an election.
  10. (transitive) To make (something) work; especially to afford (something) financially.
    If it’s not too expensive, I think we can swing it.
  11. (transitive, music) To play notes that are in pairs by making the first of the pair slightly longer than written (augmentation) and the second, resulting in a bouncy, uneven rhythm.
  12. (transitive, cricket) (of a bowler) to make the ball move sideways in its trajectory.
  13. (transitive and intransitive, boxing) To move one's arm in a punching motion.
  14. (transitive) In 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"
  15. (transitive, engineering) To admit or turn something for the purpose of shaping it; said of a lathe.
    The lathe can swing a pulley of 12 inches diameter.
  16. (transitive, carpentry) To put (a door, gate, etc.) on hinges so that it can swing or turn.
  17. (nautical) To turn round by action of wind or tide when at anchor.
    A ship swings with the tide.
Derived terms[edit]
Troponyms[edit]
  • (to rotate about an off-centre fixed point): pivot, swivel
Translations[edit]
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.
Translations to be checked

Etymology 2[edit]

From the above verb.

Noun[edit]

swing ‎(plural swings)

  1. The 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
  2. A line, cord, or other thing suspended and hanging loose, upon which anything may swing.
  3. A hanging seat in a children's playground, for acrobats in a circus, or on a porch for relaxing.
    • 1918, W. B. Maxwell, chapter 12, in The Mirror and the Lamp:
      To Edward […] he was terrible, nerve-inflaming, poisonously asphyxiating. He sat rocking himself in the late Mr. Churchill's swing chair, smoking and twaddling.
  4. A dance style.
  5. (music) The genre of music associated with this dance style.
  6. The amount of change towards or away from something.
    1. (politics) In 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.
  7. (cricket) Sideways movement of the ball as it flies through the air.
  8. The diameter that a lathe can cut.
  9. In a musical theater production, a performer who understudies several roles.
  10. A basic dance step in which a pair link hands and turn round together in a circle.
  11. Capacity of a turning lathe, as determined by the diameter of the largest object that can be turned in it.
  12. (obsolete) Free course; unrestrained liberty.
    • John Dryden
      Take thy swing.
    • Burke
      To prevent anything which may prove an obstacle to the full swing of his genius.
  13. (boxing) A type of hook with the arm more extended.
Quotations[edit]
  • 1937 June 11, Judy Garland, “All God’s Chillun Got Rhythm”, A day at the races, Sam Wood (director), Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
    All God’s chillun got rhythm. All God's chillun got swing.
    Maybe haven't got money, maybe haven't got shoes.
    All God’s chillun got rhythm for to [sic.] push away their blues.
Derived terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.
Translations to be checked

Anagrams[edit]

French[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Borrowing from English swing.

Noun[edit]

swing m ‎(plural swings)

  1. swing (all senses)

Italian[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Borrowing from English swing.

Noun[edit]

swing m ‎(invariable)

  1. swing (music and dance style; golf swing)

Portuguese[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Borrowing from English swing.

Noun[edit]

swing m (plural swings)

  1. swing (a dance and music style)
  2. swinging (exchange of partners for sex)

Spanish[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Borrowing from English swing.

Noun[edit]

swing m ‎(plural swings)

  1. swing (dance)
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