swath
pronunciation
How to pronounce swath in British English:
UK [swɒθ]
How to pronounce swath in American English:
US [swɒθ]
-
- Noun:
- the space created by the swing of a scythe or the cut of a mowing machine
- a path or strip (as cut by one course of mowing)
Word Origin
- swath (n.)
- Old English swæð, swaðu "track, footstep, trace, scar, vestige," from Proto-Germanic *swathan, *swatho (cognates: Old Frisian swethe "boundary made by a scythe," Middle Dutch swade, Dutch zwade, German Schwad "a row of cut grass"); of uncertain origin. Meaning "a mown crop lying on the ground" is from early 14c.; that of "space covered by the single cut of a scythe" emerged late 15c., and that of "a strip, lengthwise extent" is from c. 1600.
Example
- 1. Poor conditions are affecting a swath of the country as far north as leeds and york .
- 2. Outside , yang points to a vacant plot in a swath of land already cleared and being drained to build apartment blocks .
- 3. Or a swath of unbroken , unblemished skin ?
- 4. The earthquake devastated a huge swath of sichuan .
- 5. A severe drought across a large swath of southwest china is now affecting more than 50 million people .