swag
pronunciation
How to pronounce swag in British English:
UK [swæg]
How to pronounce swag in American English:
US [swæɡ]
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- Noun:
- valuable goods
- goods or money obtained illegally
- a bundle containing the personal belongings of a swagman
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- Verb:
- droop, sink, or settle from or as if from pressure or loss of tautness
- walk as if unable to control one's movements
- sway heavily or unsteadily
Word Origin
- swag (v.)
- "to move heavily or unsteadily," 1520s, probably from a Scandinavian source akin to Old Norse sveggja "to swing, sway," from the same source as Old English swingan "to swing" (see swing (v.)). Related: Swagged; swagging.
- swag (n.)
- 1650s, "a lurching or swaying," from swag (v.). Meaning "ornamental festoon" (1794) is said to be probably a separate development from the verb (but see swage). Swag lamp attested from 1966. Colloquial sense of "promotional material" (from recording companies, etc.) was in use by 2001; swag was English criminal's slang for "quantity of stolen property, loot" from c. 1839. This might be related to earlier senses of "round bag" (c. 1300) and "big, blustering fellow" (1580s), which may represent separate borrowings from the Scandinavian source. "The primary meaning was 'a bulging bag'" [Klein].
Example
- 1. Top place to lay your swag , good strong work gordon and the girls .
- 2. As your boss , who likely funded the training , he may think that any cheap swag belongs to him .
- 3. A man camp up one evening , humping his swag .
- 4. Can 't we swag a fax machine and get it to this guy ?
- 5. Of course , it is open to a thief who believes his swag might have been so marked to attempt such cleaning himself .