swim

SWIM/swɪm/

Noun pluralswims

19 meanings of swim

1
verbintransitive
To move through water by using your arms, legs, or fins, without touching the bottom.
Like a fish moving forward through the water using its whole body.
Fish swim faster than most people can run.
She was swimming across the lake when it started to rain.
Note
2
nouncountable
A time spent moving through water for fun or exercise.
We went for a swim in the lake yesterday.
A quick swim before breakfast woke her up.
Similardip
3
verbtransitive
To cross a stretch of water or cover a set distance by swimming, or to use a certain stroke.
She wants to swim the English Channel next summer.
He can swim the backstroke faster than anyone on the team.
4
verbintransitive
To feel dizzy, as if everything around you is spinning.
Like the way the world keeps turning for a moment after you spin in a circle.
My head began to swim after I stood up too fast.
The room seemed to swim in front of her tired eyes.
Similarspin, reel, whirl
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5
verbintransitive
To be covered with or surrounded by a lot of liquid.
On that menu the vegetables swim in melted butter.
His plate was swimming in thick brown gravy.
Similardrown, brim
6
verbintransitive
To have a very large amount of something.
Like having so many toys that you could never count them all.
After the big sale, the store was swimming in cash.
Rich families swim in luxuries that most people never see.
Similarwallow
7
nouncountable
A dizzy feeling, or a moment of nearly fainting.
Like the light-headed feeling you get just after spinning very fast.
A sudden swim came over him and he had to sit down.
She felt a swim in her head after the long flight.
Similarswoon
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8
nounfiguratively
The flow of current events that you are part of.
After months away, she felt out of the swim of things at work.
Reading the news each day keeps me in the swim of current events.
Similarswing, flow
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9
verbintransitive
To move smoothly along with a gentle waving motion.
Like seaweed waving smoothly back and forth in the water.
The dancers seemed to swim across the stage.
Clouds swim slowly across the summer sky.
Similarglide, float
10
verbintransitive
To be soaked or flooded with water.
After the storm, the streets swim with rainwater.
The whole field was swimming after days of heavy rain.
Similarflood

11
verbintransitive
To move around loosely inside something because there is too much empty space.
Like a small pea rolling around inside a big box.
My feet swim around inside these huge rubber boots.
The little bird swims around in that oversized cage.
12
nouncountable
The gas-filled organ inside a fish that helps it rise and sink in water.
Like a small balloon inside the fish that it can fill with air or empty.
The cook removed the swim from the trout before frying it.
A fish uses its swim to rise and sink in the water.
Similarbladder, sound
13
noun
A 1960s dance in which you move your arms like different swimming strokes.
Like pretending to swim while you dance, even though you are on dry land.
At the party everyone was dancing the swim.
She showed me how to do the swim by waving my arms.
Note
14
verbtransitive
To put something into water so that the lighter parts rise and float to the top.
Like dropping seeds in water and watching the empty ones float up.
Workers swim the crushed rock to wash away the lighter dust.
She swims the seeds to let the empty ones float off the top.
15
verbraretransitive
To make a person or animal move through the water.
Like leading a dog into a lake so it paddles to the other side.
The riders swim their horses across the shallow river.
The farmer swims his cattle over to the island every summer.
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16
verbarchaicintransitive
To rest on the surface of water without sinking.
Like a leaf staying on top of a pond instead of going under.
The wooden bowl will swim on the water if you set it down gently.
And he cut down a stick, and cast it in thither; and the iron did swim.
1611, The Holy Bible, King James VersionHere, swim means float.
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17
nounUKcountable
A spot in a river or stream where fish often gather.
Like a spot in a pond where all the fish like to gather.
The angler found a quiet swim where the fish were biting.
Every good swim along the river was already taken.
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18
verbhistoricaltransitive
To throw a suspected witch into water to see whether they float.
Like a trap where both answers count against you.
The villagers resolved to swim the widow at the millpond come morning.
They swam the old woman in the river, and her floating sealed her fate.
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19
nounabbreviation
Abbreviation of someone who isn't me. Used online to talk about yourself without admitting it was you.
SWIM ordered a small package online and it arrived a week later.
According to the thread, SWIM only tried it once.
Note

Practice

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Origins

Meanings 1–3, 5–6, 8–18

From Old English swimman, meaning "to swim or float." It goes back to older Germanic and Proto-Indo-European roots.

Meanings 4, 7

From Old English swīma, meaning "a swoon or dizziness in the head."