swing
pronunciation
How to pronounce swing in British English:
UK [swɪŋ]
How to pronounce swing in American English:
US [swɪŋ]
-
- Noun:
- a state of steady vigorous action that is characteristic of an activity
- mechanical device used as a plaything to support someone swinging back and forth
- a sweeping blow or stroke
- changing location by moving back and forth
- a style of jazz played by big bands popular in the 1930s; flowing rhythms but less complex than later styles of jazz
- a jaunty rhythm in music
- the act of swinging a golf club at a golf ball and (usually) hitting it
- in baseball; a batter's attempt to hit a pitched ball
- a square dance figure; a pair of dancers join hands and dance around a point between them
-
- Verb:
- move in a curve or arc, usually with the intent of hitting
- move or walk in a swinging or swaying manner
- change direction with a swinging motion; turn
- influence decisively
- make a big sweeping gesture or movement
- hang freely
- hit or aim at with a sweeping arm movement
- alternate dramatically between high and low values
- live in a lively, modern, and relaxed style
- have a certain musical rhythm
- be a social swinger; socialize a lot
- play with a subtle and intuitively felt sense of rhythm
- engage freely in promiscuous sex, often with the husband or wife of one's friends
Word Origin
- swing
- swing: [OE] Swing goes back ultimately to a prehistoric Germanic base *swinggw-, which denoted ‘violent circulatory movement’. One of its specific applications was to the wielding of a whip, and indeed the English verb swing originally meant ‘flog’ (‘They bind him and swing him and spit on his face’, Blickling Homilies 971). Another Old English sense was ‘rush’, but the main modern meaning ‘oscillate’ did not emerge until as recently as the 16th century. The ancestral notion of ‘flogging’ or ‘beating’ is better preserved in the related swinge [16].=> swinge
- swing (v.)
- Old English swingan "beat, strike; scourge, flog; to rush, fling oneself" (strong verb, past tense swang, past participle swungen), from Proto-Germanic *swingan (cognates: Old Saxon, Old High German swingan, Old Frisian swinga, German schwingen "to swing, swingle, oscillate"), from PIE *sweng(w)- "to swing, turn, toss" (perhaps Germanic only). The meaning "move freely back and forth" is first recorded 1540s. Transitive sense "cause to oscillate" is from 1550s. Sense of "bring about, make happen" is from 1934. Sense of "engage in promiscuous sex" is from 1964; earlier, more generally, "enjoy oneself unconventionally" (1957). Related: Swung; swinging. Swing-voter "independent who often determines the outcome of an election" is from 1966.
- swing (n.)
- Old English swinge "stroke, blow; chastisement," from swing (v.). Meaning "suspended seat on ropes" is from 1680s. Meaning "shift of public opinion" is from 1899. The meaning "variety of big dance-band music with a swinging rhythm" is first recorded 1933, though the sense has been traced back to 1888; its heyday was from mid-30s to mid-40s. Phrase in full swing "in total effect or operation" (1560s) perhaps is from bell-ringing. The backyard or playground swing-set is from 1951.
Example
- 1. Japan and the us are the swing votes .
- 2. Don : watch me swing it around my head !
- 3. Install an indoor swing , which offers many sensory benefits .
- 4. However , the trend appears to reflect a wider intellectual swing .
- 5. Perhaps the government could even charge $ 20 for each swing of the sledgehammer .