swing

Etymology

Definitions

1. 1

   To rotate about an off-centre fixed point.

   • The plant swung in the breeze.
   • 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.
   • The starliner swung into orbit around the planet Coruscant, and beyond the observation bubble appeared a glittering expanse of a billion golden lights. Through a thousand centuries of strife, those lights continued to shine.
2. 2

   To dance.

3. 3

   To ride on a swing.

   • The children laughed as they swung.
4. ›+ 33 more definitionsshow fewer

   1. 4

      To participate in the swinging lifestyle

      To participate in the swinging lifestyle; to participate in wifeswapping.

      • We find it difficult to meet couples our age, and often swing with single, straight men. We have rules: no married guys cheating on their wives, no one too young or too old, and no one who supports Trump.
      • My husband wasn’t so lucky and didn’t get to swing at all so was very disappointed. I’m desperate to do it all again but he’s not so keen.
   2. 5

      To hang from the gallows

      To hang from the gallows; to be punished by hanging, swing for something or someone; (often hyperbolic) to be severely punished.

   3. 6

      To move sideways in its trajectory.

   4. 7

      (of a bowler) To make the ball move sideways in its trajectory.

   5. 8

      To fluctuate or change.

      • It wasn't long before the crowd's mood swung towards restless irritability.
   6. 9

      To move (an object) backward and forward

      To move (an object) backward and forward; to wave.

      • He swung his sword as hard as he could.
   7. 10

      To change (a numerical result)

      To change (a numerical result); especially to change the outcome of an election.

   8. 11

      To make (something) work

      To make (something) work; especially to afford (something) financially.

      • If it’s not too expensive, I think we can swing it.
   9. 12

      To play notes that are in pairs by making the first of the pair slightly longer than…

      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.

   10. 13

       To move one's arm in a punching motion.

   11. 14

       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"
   12. 15

       To admit or turn something for the purpose of shaping it

       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.
   13. 16

       To put (a door, gate, etc.) on hinges so that it can swing or turn.

   14. 17

       To turn round by action of wind or tide when at anchor.

       • A ship swings with the tide.
   15. 18

       To turn in a different direction.

   16. 19

       To be sexually oriented.

       • swing both ways
       • "The Jumping Place," the second play we did, was directed by the author, and the whole cast of seven was straight. We don't ask when somebody comes here how they swing, only that they commit themselves to the principles of the theatre.
   17. 20

       The act, or an instance, of swinging.

   18. 21

       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
   19. 22

       The sweep or compass of a swinging body.

   20. 23

       A line, cord, or other thing suspended and hanging loose, upon which anything may swing.

   21. 24

       A hanging seat that can swing back and forth, in a children's playground, for acrobats in…

       A hanging seat that can swing back and forth, in a children's playground, for acrobats in a circus, or on a porch for relaxing.

       • To Edward […] he was terrible, nerve-inflaming, poisonously asphyxiating. He sat rocking himself in the late Mr. Churchill's swing chair, smoking and twaddling.
       • A German court has ruled that a landlord was within her rights to evict a man for persistently using a squeaky swing set as a sex prop in his flat late at night.
   22. 25

       An energetic and acrobatic late-1930s partner-based dance style, also known as jitterbug…

       An energetic and acrobatic late-1930s partner-based dance style, also known as jitterbug and lindy-hop.

   23. 26

       The genre of music associated with this dance style.

       • It makes no diff'rence / if it's sweet or hot. / Just give that rhythm / ev'rything you've got! / It don't mean a thing / if it ain't got that swing.
   24. 27

       The amount of change towards or away from something.

       • Miss Pole came round with a swing to as vehement a belief in the sorrowful tale as she had been sceptical before […]
   25. 28

       Sideways movement of the ball as it flies through the air.

   26. 29

       Capacity of a turning lathe, as determined by the diameter of the largest object that can…

       Capacity of a turning lathe, as determined by the diameter of the largest object that can be turned in it.

   27. 30

       In a musical theater production, a performer who understudies several roles.

       • I started as a swing. I mostly played Joanne and Mrs. Jefferson, the “Seasons of Love” soloist. I closed it out. So I was there for about the last four or five years.
   28. 31

       A basic dance step in which a pair link hands and turn round together in a circle.

   29. 32

       The maximum amount of change that has occurred or can occur

       The maximum amount of change that has occurred or can occur; the sum of the maximum changes in any direction.

   30. 33

       Free course

       Free course; unrestrained liberty.

       • Take thy swing.
       • To prevent anything which may prove an obstacle on the full swing of his genius.
   31. 34

       Influence or power of anything put in motion.

   32. 35

       A type of hook with the arm more extended.

   33. 36

       A surname.

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