swings

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of swing.

   Two of the playground swings had been roped off for repairs.

   Traders braced for sharp price swings ahead of the announcement.

   Note

   The plural gathers the countable uses: separate acts of swinging, the arcs a swinging body sweeps, the loose cords things hang from, and the hanging seats of a playground or porch. Figurative sweeps follow the same pattern, so prices and moods move in swings. Context does the sorting: a row of swings is furniture, while a run of swings in a market is movement.

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present of swing.

   The pendulum swings steadily back and forth above the display case.

   He swings the axe in a clean arc and splits the log in one stroke.

   Note

   The -s form that agrees with a single subject in the present: the pendulum swings, she swings the bat. It carries every sense of the verb, including intransitive ones where nothing is swung at all, as when a door swings shut or a couple swings across the dance floor. It is spelled the same as the plural noun, so position tells them apart. After a subject it is a verb; after the, two or some it is a noun.

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