Pronunciations (2)
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/ˈswɪŋ/
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ˈswɪŋ
Verb
To rotate about an off-centre fixed point.
Usage- Intransitive
- Examples
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The plant swung in the breeze.
More examples (3)
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.
Guardiola swung haymakers in all directions; he presented one of the world’s richest clubs as a noble, put-upon underdog; and he established a siege mentality with such coruscating precision that Football Daily instantly bet the farm on City winning the Premier League this season.
To dance.
Usage- Intransitive
To ride on a swing.
Usage- Intransitive
- Examples
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The children laughed as they swung.
To participate in the swinging lifestyle; to participate in wifeswapping.
Usage- Intransitive
- Examples
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More examples (1)
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.
To hang from the gallows; to be punished by hanging, swing for something or someone; (often hyperbolic) to be severely punished.
Usage- Intransitive
- Examples
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More examples (1)
“It's all clear,” he whispered. “Have you the chisel and the bags? Great Scott! Jump, Archie, jump, and I'll swing for it!” Sherlock Holmes had sprung out and seized the intruder by the collar. The other dived down the hole, and I heard the sound of rending cloth as Jones clutched at his skirts.
(of a bowler) To make the ball move sideways in its trajectory.
Usage- Transitive
To move sideways in its trajectory.
Usage- Intransitive
- of a ball
To fluctuate or change.
Usage- Intransitive
- Examples
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It wasn't long before the crowd's mood swung towards restless irritability.
To move (an object) backward and forward; to wave.
Usage- Transitive
- Examples
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He swung his sword as hard as he could.
To change (a numerical result); especially to change the outcome of an election.
Usage- Transitive
To make (something) work; especially to afford (something) financially.
Usage- Slang
- Transitive
- Examples
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If it’s not too expensive, I think we can swing it.
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.
Usage- Transitive
To move one's arm in a punching motion.
Usage- Intransitive
- Transitive
In dancing, to turn around in a small circle with one's partner, holding hands or arms.
Usage- Transitive
- Examples
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"to swing one's partner", or simply "to swing"
To admit or turn something for the purpose of shaping it; said of a lathe.
Usage- Transitive
- Examples
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The lathe can swing a pulley of 12 inches diameter.
To put (a door, gate, etc.) on hinges so that it can swing or turn.
Usage- Transitive
To turn round by action of wind or tide when at anchor.
- Examples
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A ship swings with the tide.
To turn in a different direction.
- Examples
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More examples (1)
Soon after departure, we cross the invisible border into Scotland to enjoy more stunning coastal scenery, before the line finally swings inland at Burnmouth to traverse pine-clad valleys, shadowed by the A1 trunk road until we rejoin the coast at Cove, east of Dunbar.
To be sexually oriented.
- Examples
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swing both ways
More examples (1)
"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.
To engage in sexual activity with a man (specifically, with his penis)
Usage- Transitive
- Examples
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She couldn't wait to get out of the restaurant with him, so she could take him back to her place and swing on his dick all night.
Noun
The act, or an instance, of swinging.
Usage- Countable
- Uncountable
- Examples
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More examples (1)
For a time he kept to the ground, but finally, discovering no spoor indicative of nearby meat, he took to the trees. With the first dizzy swing from tree to tree all the old joy of living swept over him. Vain regrets and dull heartache were forgotten. Now was he living. Now, indeed, was the true happiness of perfect freedom his.
The manner in which something is swung.
Usage- Countable
- Uncountable
- Examples
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He worked tirelessly to improve his golf swing.
Door swing indicates direction the door opens.
More examples (2)
the swing of a pendulum
Improve your golf swing by taking your mate to the driving range. If you're good, you can show off and give her some tips. If you stink, play it for laughs.
The sweep or compass of a swinging body.
Usage- Countable
- Uncountable
A line, cord, or other thing suspended and hanging loose, upon which anything may swing.
Usage- Countable
- Uncountable
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.
Usage- Countable
- Uncountable
- Examples
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To Edward […] he was terrible, nerve-inflaming, poisonously asphyxiating. He sat rocking himself in the late Mr. Churchill's swing chair, smoking and twaddling.
More examples (1)
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.
An energetic and acrobatic late-1930s partner-based dance style, also known as jitterbug and lindy-hop.
Usage- Countable
- Uncountable
The genre of music associated with this dance style.
Usage- Countable
- Uncountable
- Examples
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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.
The amount of change towards or away from something.
Usage- Countable
- Uncountable
- Examples
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Miss Pole came round with a swing to as vehement a belief in the sorrowful tale as she had been sceptical before […]
The amount of change towards or away from something. In an election, the increase or decrease in the number of votes for opposition parties compared with votes for the incumbent party.
Usage- Countable
- Uncountable
- Examples
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The polls showed a wide swing to Labour.
Sideways movement of the ball as it flies through the air.
Usage- Countable
- Uncountable
Capacity of a turning lathe, as determined by the diameter of the largest object that can be turned in it.
Usage- Countable
- Uncountable
In a musical theater production, a performer who understudies several roles.
Usage- Countable
- Uncountable
- Examples
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More examples (1)
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.
A basic dance step in which a pair link hands and turn round together in a circle.
Usage- Countable
- Uncountable
The maximum amount of change that has occurred or can occur; the sum of the maximum changes in any direction.
Usage- Countable
- Uncountable
- Examples
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More examples (1)
Jesus' finishing has been one of the main concerns - since the start of last season the 23-year-old has underperformed his Premier League expected goals tally by 6.97goals ^([sic]) (in short, he has scored seven fewer goals than would be expected from the chances presented to him). In contrast, Haaland is overperforming by 6.83 goals since joining Dortmund, which is almost a 14-goal swing between the pair.
Free course; unrestrained liberty.
Usage- Countable
- Obsolete
- Uncountable
- Examples
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Take thy swing.
To prevent anything which may prove an obstacle on the full swing of his genius.
Influence or power of anything put in motion.
Usage- Countable
- Uncountable
A type of hook with the arm more extended.
Usage- Countable
- Uncountable
Noun
a state of steady vigorous action that is characteristic of an activity
- Broader terms
- Examples
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the party went with a swing
it took time to get into the swing of things
mechanical device used as a plaything to support someone swinging back and forth
- Broader terms
a sweeping blow or stroke
- Broader terms
- Examples
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he took a wild swing at my head
changing location by moving back and forth
- Synonyms
a style of jazz played by big bands popular in the 1930s; flowing rhythms but less complex than later styles of jazz
- Synonyms
- Broader terms
a jaunty rhythm in music
- Synonyms
- Broader terms
the act of swinging a golf club at a golf ball and (usually) hitting it
- Synonyms
in baseball; a batter's attempt to hit a pitched ball
- Synonyms
- Examples
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he took a vicious cut at the 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
- Examples
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He swung his left fist
swing a bat
move or walk in a swinging or swaying manner
- Synonyms
- Broader terms
- Examples
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He swung back
change direction with a swinging motion; turn
- Examples
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swing back
swing forward
influence decisively
- Synonyms
- Examples
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This action swung many votes over to his side
make a big sweeping gesture or movement
hang loosely
- Broader terms
- Examples
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the ornaments dangled from the tree
The light dropped from the ceiling
hit or aim at with a sweeping arm movement
- Examples
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The soccer player began to swing at the referee
alternate dramatically between high and low values
- Broader terms
- Examples
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his mood swings
the market is swinging up and down
live in a lively, modern, and relaxed style
- Broader terms
- Examples
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The Woodstock generation attempted to swing freely
have a certain musical rhythm
- Broader terms
- Examples
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The music has to swing
be a social swinger; socialize a lot
- Synonyms
play with a subtle and intuitively felt sense of rhythm
- Broader terms
engage freely in promiscuous sex, often with the husband or wife of one's friends
- Broader terms
- Examples
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There were many swinging couples in the 1960's