swim

Meaning

Verb

1. To move through the water, without touching the bottom; to propel oneself in water by natural means.
2. To become immersed in, or as if in, or flooded with, or as if with, a liquid
3. To move around freely because of excess space.
4. To traverse (a specific body of water, or a specific distance) by swimming; or, to use a specific swimming stroke; or, to compete in a specific swimming event.
5. To cause to swim.
6. To float.
7. To be overflowed or drenched.
8. To immerse in water to make the lighter parts float.
9. To test (a suspected witch) by throwing into a river; those who floated rather than sinking were deemed to be witches.
10. To glide along with a waving motion.

Noun

1. An act or instance of swimming.
2. The sound, or air bladder, of a fish.
3. A part of a stream much frequented by fish.
4. A dance or dance move of the 1960s in which the arms are moved in imitation of various swimming strokes, such as freestyle, breaststroke, etc.
5. The flow of events; being in the swim of things.

Noun

A dizziness; swoon.

Noun

Abbreviation of someone who isn't me. used as a way to avoid self-designation or self-incrimination, especially in online drug forums

Pronounced as (IPA)

/swɪm/

Etymology

From Middle English swymmen, from Old English swimman (“to swim, float”) (class III strong verb; past tense swamm, past participle geswummen), from Proto-West Germanic *swimman, from Proto-Germanic *swimmaną (“to swoon, lose consciousness, swim”), from Proto-Indo-European *swem(bʰ)- (“to be unsteady, move, swim”).
Cognates
Cognate with Scots sweem, soom (“to swim”), Saterland Frisian swimme (“to swim”), West Frisian swimme (“to swim, float”), Dutch zwemmen (“to swim”), German schwimmen (“to swim”), Norwegian Bokmål and Danish svømme (“to swim”), Swedish simma (“to swim”), Norwegian Nynorsk symja (“to swim”).