swing
see also: Swing
Pronunciation
  • IPA: /ˈswɪŋ/
Verb

swing (swings, present participle swinging; past swung, past participle swung)

  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 shorter, 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.
Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations
  • French: se permettre
Translations Noun

swing

  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. The sweep or compass of a swinging body.
  3. A line, cord, or other thing suspended and hanging loose, upon which anything may swing.
  4. A hanging seat in a children's playground, for acrobats in a circus, or on a porch for relaxing.
  5. A dance style.
  6. (music) The genre of music associated with this dance style.
  7. 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.
  8. (cricket) Sideways movement of the ball as it flies through the air.
  9. Capacity of a turning lathe, as determined by the diameter of the largest object that can be turned in it.
  10. In a musical theater production, a performer who understudies several roles.
  11. A basic dance step in which a pair link hands and turn round together in a circle.
  12. (obsolete) Free course; unrestrained liberty.
    • Take thy swing.
    • To prevent anything which may prove an obstacle to the full swing of his genius.
  13. Influence or power of anything put in motion.
  14. (boxing) A type of hook with the arm more extended.
Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations
  • French: coup de poing balancé
  • Spanish: swing

Swing
Proper noun
  1. Surname



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