English
swim
see also: SWIM, Swim
Etymology 1

From Middle English swymmen, from Old English swimman (class III strong verb; past tense swamm, past participle geswummen), from Proto-West Germanic *swimman, from Proto-Germanic *swimmaną, from Proto-Indo-European *swem(bʰ)-.

Cognate with Scots sweem, soom ("to swim"), Saterland Frisian swimme, Western Frisian swimme, Dutch zwemmen, German schwimmen, Norwegian Bokmål - and Danish svømme, Swedish simma, Norwegian Nynorsk symja.

Pronunciation Verb

swim (swims, present participle swimming; simple past swam, past participle swum)

  1. (intransitive) To move through the water, without touching the bottom; to propel oneself in water by natural means.
  2. (intransitive) To become immersed in, or as if in, or flooded with, or as if with, a liquid
    swimming in self-pity
    a bare few bits of meat swimming in watery sauce
  3. (intransitive) To move around freely because of excess space.
  4. (transitive) 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.
    For exercise, we like to swim laps around the pool.
    I want to swim the 200-yard breaststroke in the finals.
  5. (transitive, uncommon) To cause to swim.
    to swim a horse across a river
    Half of the guinea pigs were swum daily.
  6. (intransitive, archaic) To float.
    sink or swim
  7. (intransitive) To be overflowed or drenched.
  8. (transitive) To immerse in water to make the lighter parts float.
    to swim wheat in order to select seed
  9. (transitive, historical) To test (a suspected witch) by throwing into a river; those who floated rather than sinking were deemed to be witches.
  10. (intransitive) To glide along with a waving motion.
Conjugation
Conjugation of swim

infinitive (to) swim
present tense past tense
1st-person singular swim swam, swum†
2nd-person singular

 swam, swum†, swammest†

3rd-person singular

 swims

 swam, swum†
plural

 swim

subjunctive

 swim

swam, swum†
imperative

 swim

—
participles

 swimming, swimmand†

 swum, swum†

†Archaic or obsolete.

Translations Noun

swim (plural swims)

  1. An act or instance of swimming.
    I'm going for a swim.
    She had a quick swim in the bay.
  2. The sound, or air bladder, of a fish.
  3. (UK) 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. (figurative) The flow of events; being in the swim of things.
Translations Etymology 2

From Middle English swime, sweme, swaime, from Old English swīma.

Noun

swim (plural swims)

  1. A dizziness; swoon.
Verb

swim (swims, present participle swimming; simple past swam, past participle swum)

  1. (intransitive) To be dizzy or vertiginous; have a giddy sensation; to have, or appear to have, a whirl motion.
    My head was swimming after drinking two bottles of cheap wine.
Etymology 3

Abbreviation of someone who isn't me.

Noun

swim

  1. (internet slang, text messaging) Abbreviation of someone who isn't me used as a way to avoid self-designation or self-incrimination, especially in online drug forums
SWIM
Pronoun
  1. (internet) Someone who isn't me; someone who isn't myself
    SWIM would like to know how to grow marijuana.
Swim
Proper noun
  1. Surname.


This text is extracted from the Wiktionary and it is available under the CC BY-SA 3.0 license | Terms and conditions | Privacy policy 0.002
Offline English dictionary