swing

Meaning

Verb

1. (intransitive) To rotate about an off-centre fixed point.
2. (intransitive) To dance.
3. (intransitive) To ride on a swing.
4. (intransitive) To participate in the swinging lifestyle; to participate in wifeswapping.
5. (intransitive) To hang from the gallows; to be punished by hanging, swing for something or someone; (often hyperbolic) to be severely punished.
6. (intransitive) To move sideways in its trajectory.
7. (transitive) (of a bowler) To make the ball move sideways in its trajectory.
8. (intransitive) To fluctuate or change.
9. (transitive) To move (an object) backward and forward; to wave.
10. (transitive) To change (a numerical result); especially to change the outcome of an election.
11. (slang, transitive) To make (something) work; especially to afford (something) financially.
12. (transitive) To 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.
13. (intransitive, transitive) 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.
15. (transitive) To admit or turn something for the purpose of shaping it; said of a lathe.
16. (transitive) To put (a door, gate, etc.) on hinges so that it can swing or turn.
17. To turn round by action of wind or tide when at anchor.
18. To turn in a different direction.
19. To be sexually oriented.

Noun

1. (countable, uncountable) The act, or an instance, of swinging.
2. (countable, uncountable) The manner in which something is swung.
3. (countable, uncountable) The sweep or compass of a swinging body.
4. (countable, uncountable) A line, cord, or other thing suspended and hanging loose, upon which anything may swing.
5. (countable, uncountable) A hanging seat that can swing back and forth, in a children's playground, for acrobats in a circus, or on a porch for relaxing.
6. (countable, uncountable) An energetic and acrobatic late-1930s partner-based dance style, also known as jitterbug and lindy-hop.
7. (countable, uncountable) The genre of music associated with this dance style.
8. (countable, uncountable) The amount of change towards or away from something.
9. (countable, uncountable) The amount of change towards or away from something.
10. (countable, uncountable) Sideways movement of the ball as it flies through the air.
11. (countable, uncountable) Capacity of a turning lathe, as determined by the diameter of the largest object that can be turned in it.
12. (countable, uncountable) In a musical theater production, a performer who understudies several roles.
13. (countable, uncountable) A basic dance step in which a pair link hands and turn round together in a circle.
14. (countable, uncountable) The maximum amount of change that has occurred or can occur; the sum of the maximum changes in any direction.
15. (countable, obsolete, uncountable) Free course; unrestrained liberty.
16. (countable, uncountable) Influence or power of anything put in motion.
17. (countable, uncountable) A type of hook with the arm more extended.

Synonyms

rock

🪨

sway

wave

👋

shake

🫨

oscillate

dangle

brandish

wag

waver

wobble

hang

move

flourish

vibrate

vacillate

jolt

swinging

wield

seesaw

beat

tremble

fluctuate

hammock

sweep

rotate

fling

cradle

flap

wave about

oscillation

pendulum

jerk

stroke

swing music

turn

wobbling

dangling

agitate

roll

waggle

quiver

vacillation

pivot

rocking chair

wabble

waving

jive

throw

suspend

stir

Translations

balançoire

balancer

se balancer

schwingen

schaukeln

altalena

Schaukel

columpio

balancear

osciller

columpiar

dondolare

gronxador

κούνια

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈswɪŋ/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: swyngen

Inherited from Old English: swingan

Cognate with Low German: swingen

Cognate with German: schwingen

Cognate with Dutch: zwingen

Cognate with Swedish: svinga

Cognate with Scottish Gaelic: seang

In summary

From 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.

Sentences

A kid is standing on a swing at a playground .