# swim

Pronunciation: say "SWIM" /swɪm/

## Verb

1. To move through water by propelling oneself with the arms, legs, or fins, without touching the bottom.
   - Simple: To move through water by using your arms, legs, or fins, without touching the bottom.
   - _Children often learn to swim more easily than adults do._
   - _The ducks swam toward the bread floating on the surface._
3. To cross a particular body of water or distance by swimming, to use a particular stroke, or to compete in a particular event.
   - Simple: To cross a stretch of water or cover a set distance by swimming, or to use a certain stroke.
   - _Each morning the athletes swim two thousand meters before breakfast._
   - _She swam the butterfly in the final and set a new record._
4. To feel dizzy or giddy, or to seem to move with a whirling motion.
   - Simple: To feel dizzy, as if everything around you is spinning.
   - _After the third glass of wine, his head started to swim._
   - _The crowded platform swam before me as the fever took hold._
5. To become immersed in or flooded with a liquid, or to appear to be.
   - Simple: To be covered with or surrounded by a lot of liquid.
   - _The salad arrived swimming in an oily, overpowering dressing._
   - _Her eyes swim with tears at the mention of his name._
6. To have, or be surrounded by, a great quantity of something.
   - Simple: To have a very large amount of something.
   - _The company swims in profits during the holiday season._
   - _They swim in opportunities that others can only dream about._
9. To float or drift smoothly along with a rippling, wavelike motion.
   - Simple: To move smoothly along with a gentle waving motion.
   - _The gymnast's ribbons swim through the air with each turn._
   - _A flock of birds swam gracefully over the rooftops at dusk._
10. To be overflowed or drenched with liquid.
   - Simple: To be soaked or flooded with water.
   - _The cellar floors swim every time the river rises._
   - _By the end of the match his jersey swam with sweat._
11. To move about freely within a container or piece of clothing because there is more room than needed.
   - Simple: To move around loosely inside something because there is too much empty space.
   - _His thin wrist swam inside the loose watch strap._
   - _Small children often swim in adult life jackets that are far too big._
14. To place something in water so that its lighter parts separate out and float to the surface.
   - Simple: To put something into water so that the lighter parts rise and float to the top.
   - _Refiners swim the crushed ore so the lighter gangue floats clear of the metal._
   - _The prospector swims the gravel in a pan, letting the light sand wash over the rim._
18. To test a suspected witch by throwing them into a river, with floating taken as proof of guilt.
   - Simple: To throw a suspected witch into water to see whether they float.
   - _The magistrate ordered his men to swim the accused before the whole parish._
   - _They swam her twice, and each time the river refused to take her down._

## Noun

2. An act or instance of moving through water by swimming.
   - Simple: A time spent moving through water for fun or exercise.
   - _After the long hike, a swim in the cold river felt wonderful._
   - _Her morning swim usually lasts about forty minutes._
7. A spell of dizziness or a swoon.
   - Simple: A dizzy feeling, or a moment of nearly fainting.
   - _A swim overtook her as she rose from the chair too quickly._
   - _He steadied himself against the wall until the swim passed._
8. The current of events; the state of being actively involved in what is happening.
   - Simple: The flow of current events that you are part of.
   - _Returning from leave, he struggled to get back into the swim of office life._
   - _She stayed in the swim by attending every meeting._
12. The air bladder of a fish, also known as its sound.
   - Simple: The gas-filled organ inside a fish that helps it rise and sink in water.
   - _Anglers sometimes puncture the swim to keep a dead bait sitting on the bottom._
   - _In many species the swim connects to the gut by a slender duct._
13. A dance or dance move from the 1960s in which the arms imitate swimming strokes such as freestyle and breaststroke.
   - Simple: A 1960s dance in which you move your arms like different swimming strokes.
   - _The band struck up a tune and the whole floor broke into the swim._
   - _He demonstrated the swim, sweeping his arms as though doing the breaststroke._
17. A stretch of a stream that fish frequent in large numbers. *(UK)*
   - Simple: A spot in a river or stream where fish often gather.
   - _He baited the swim with maggots and waited for the bream to move in._
   - _By dawn the best swim on the canal had been claimed by another angler._
19. Abbreviation of someone who isn't me.
   - Simple: Abbreviation of someone who isn't me. Used online to talk about yourself without admitting it was you.
   - _SWIM says the effects wore off after about an hour._
   - _SWIM kept the dose low the first time, just to be safe._

## Verb

15. To drive or guide an animal so that it moves through water under its own power. *(rare)*
   - Simple: To make a person or animal move through the water.
   - _Drovers would swim the herd across the channel at low tide._
   - _The trainer swims the recovering racehorse in the pool each morning._
16. To float, staying on the surface of a liquid rather than sinking. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: To rest on the surface of water without sinking.
   - _Set upon the pond, the little raft will swim until the wood grows waterlogged._
   - _Petals swam on the still surface of the fountain._

## Origin

**Meanings 1–3, 5–6, 8–18** — From Middle English swymmen, from Old English swimman ("to swim, float"), going back to Proto-Germanic *swimmaną ("to swoon, lose consciousness, swim") and ultimately Proto-Indo-European *swem(bʰ)- ("to be unsteady, move, swim"). It is related to Dutch zwemmen, German schwimmen, and Swedish simma.
**Meanings 4, 7** — From Middle English swime ("a dizziness, swoon, trance"), from Old English swīma ("a swoon, swimming in the head"). It is related to Swedish svimma and Danish svime ("to swoon, faint").

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/swim (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).