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swathe - 9 dictionary results

swathe

1  [swoth, sweyth] verb, swathed, swath⋅ing, noun
Use swathe in a Sentence
–verb (used with object)
1. to wrap, bind, or swaddle with bands of some material; wrap up closely or fully.
2. to bandage.
3. to enfold or envelop, as wrappings do.
4. to wrap (cloth, rope, etc.) around something.
–noun
5. a band of linen or the like in which something is wrapped; wrapping; bandage.
Origin:
bef. 1050; (n.) ME; OE *swæth or *swath (in swathum dat. pl.); cf. swaddle; (v.) ME swathen, late OE swathian, deriv. of the n.; c. ON svatha

swathe

2  [swoth, sweyth]
–noun
swath.

swath

  [swoth, swawth]
–noun
1. the space covered by the stroke of a scythe or the cut of a mowing machine.
2. the piece or strip so cut.
3. a line or ridge of grass, grain, or the like, cut and thrown together by a scythe or mowing machine.
4. a strip, belt, or long and relatively narrow extent of anything.
—Idiom
5. cut a swath, to make a pretentious display; attract notice: The new doctor cut a swath in the small community.
Also, swathe.

Origin:
bef. 900; ME; OE swæth footprint; c. G Shwade
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To swathe
swath   (swŏth, swôth)   
n.  
    1. The width of a scythe stroke or a mowing-machine blade.
    2. A path of this width made in mowing.
    3. The mown grass or grain lying on such a path.
  2. Something likened to a swath; a strip.

[Middle English swathe, from Old English swæth, track.]
swathe 1   (swŏth, swôth, swāth)   
tr.v.   swathed, swath·ing, swathes
  1. To wrap or bind with or as if with bandages.
  2. To enfold or constrict.
n.  A wrapping, binding, or bandage.

[Middle English swathen, from Old English swathian.]
swath'er n.
swathe 2   (swŏth, swôth, swāth)   
n.  Variant of swath.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Swathe

Swathe\ (sw[=a][th]), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Swathed (sw[=a][th]d); p. pr. & vb. n. Swathing.] [OE. swathen, AS. swe[eth]ain. See Swath, n., and cf. Swaddle.] To bind with a swathe, band, bandage, or rollers.

Their children are never swathed or bound about with any thing when they are first born. --Abp. Abbot.

Swathe

Swathe\, n. A bandage; a band; a swath.

Wrapped me in above an hundred yards of swathe. --Addison.

Milk and a swathe, at first, his whole demand. --Young.

The solemn glory of the afternoon, with its long swathes of light between the far off rows of limes. --G. Eliot.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : swathe
Spanish: envolver; vendar,
German: (um)wickeln,
Japanese: 巻く
More Translations »

swathe 
O.E. swaþian "to swathe," from swaðu "track, trace, band" (see swath). The noun meaning "infant's swaddling bands" was found in O.E. as swaþum (dative plural).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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