swim definition | Dictionary.com

swim

[swim]

,verb, swam, swum, swim⋅ming, noun

–verb (used without object)

1.	to move in water by movements of the limbs, fins, tail, etc.

2.	to float on the surface of water or some other liquid.

3.	to move, rest, or be suspended in air as if swimming in water.

4.	to move, glide, or go smoothly over a surface.

5.	to be immersed or steeped in or overflowing or flooded with a liquid: eyes swimming with tears.

6.	to be dizzy or giddy; seem to whirl: My head began to swim.

–verb (used with object)

7.	to move along in or cross (a body of water) by swimming: to swim a lake.

8.	to perform (a particular stroke) in swimming: to swim a sidestroke.

9.	to cause to swim or float, as on a stream.

10.	to furnish with sufficient water to swim or float.

–noun

11.	an act, instance, or period of swimming.

12.	a motion as of swimming; a smooth, gliding movement.

—Idiom

13.	in the swim, alert to or actively engaged in events; in the thick of things: Despite her age, she is still in the swim.

Origin:
bef. 900; ME swimmen, OE swimman; c. D zwemmen, G schwimmen, ON svimma

Related forms:

swim⋅ma⋅ble, adjective

swimmer, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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swim (swĭm)

v. swam (swām), swum (swŭm), swim·ming, swims

v. intr.

To move through water by means of the limbs, fins, or tail.
To move as though gliding through water.
To float on water or another liquid.
1. To be covered or flooded with or as if with a liquid: chicken swimming in gravy.
2. To possess a superfluity; abound: After winning the lottery, she was swimming in money.
To experience a floating or giddy sensation; be dizzy: "his brain still swimming with the effects of the last night's champagne" (Robert Smith Surtees).
To appear to spin or reel lazily: The room swam before my eyes.

v. tr.

To move through or across (a body of water) by swimming: She swam the channel.
To execute (a particular stroke) in swimming.
To cause to swim or float.

1. The act of swimming.
2. A period of time spent swimming.
A gliding motion.
A state of dizziness.
An area, as of a river, abounding in fish.

adj. Of, relating to, or used for swimming: a swim mask.

[Middle English swimmen, from Old English swimman.]
swim'ma·ble adj., swim'mer n.

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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Swim

Swim\, v. i. [imp. Swamor Swum; p. p. Swum; p. pr. & vb. n. Swimming.] [AS. swimman; akin to D. zwemmen, OHG. swimman, G. schwimmen, Icel. svimma, Dan. sw["o]mme, Sw. simma. Cf. Sound an air bladder, a strait.]

1. To be supported by water or other fluid; not to sink; to float; as, any substance will swim, whose specific gravity is less than that of the fluid in which it is immersed.

2. To move progressively in water by means of strokes with the hands and feet, or the fins or the tail.

Leap in with me into this angry flood, And swim to yonder point. --Shak.

3. To be overflowed or drenched. --Ps. vi. 6.

Sudden the ditches swell, the meadows swim. --Thomson.

4. Fig.: To be as if borne or floating in a fluid.

[They] now swim in joy. --Milton.

5. To be filled with swimming animals. [Obs.]

[Streams] that swim full of small fishes. --Chaucer.

Swim

Swim\, v. t. 1. To pass or move over or on by swimming; as, to swim a stream.

Sometimes he thought to swim the stormy main. --Dryden.

2. To cause or compel to swim; to make to float; as, to swim a horse across a river.

3. To immerse in water that the lighter parts may float; as, to swim wheat in order to select seed.

Swim

Swim\, n. 1. The act of swimming; a gliding motion, like that of one swimming. --B. Jonson.

2. The sound, or air bladder, of a fish.

3. A part of a stream much frequented by fish. [Eng.]

Swim bladder, an air bladder of a fish.

To be in the swim, to be in a favored position; to be associated with others in active affairs. [Colloq.]

Swim

Swim\, v. i. [OE. swime dizziness, vertigo, AS. sw[=i]ma; akin to D. zwijm, Icel. svimi dizziness, svina to subside, sv[=i]a to abate, G. schwindel dizziness, schwinden to disappear, to dwindle, OHG. sw[=i]nan to dwindle. Cf. Squemish, Swindler.] To be dizzy; to have an unsteady or reeling sensation; as, the head swims.

Language Translation for : swim

Spanish: nadar,

German: schwimmen,

Japanese: 泳ぐ

More Translations »

swim (v.)

O.E. swimman "to move in or on the water, float" (class III strong verb; past tense swamm, pp. swummen), from P.Gmc. *swemjanan (cf. O.S., O.H.G. swimman, O.N. svimma, Du. zwemmen, Ger. schwimmen), from PIE base *swem- "to be in motion," sometimes said to be restricted to Gmc., but possible cognates are Welsh chwyf "motion," O.Ir. do-sennaim "I hunt," Lith. sundyti "to chase." For the usual IE word, see natatorium. Sense of "reel or move unsteadily" first recorded 1678; of the head or brain, from 1702. Swimsuit first recorded 1934; swimming hole is from 1867; swimming pool is from 1899. Fig. phrase sink or swim is attested from c.1440, often with ref. to ordeals of suspected witches.

swim (n.)

1547, "the clear part of any liquid" (above the sediment), from swim (v.). Meaning "part of a river or stream frequented by fish" (and hence fishermen) is from 1828, and is probably the source of the fig. meaning "the current of the latest affairs or events" (1869).

swim

In addition to the idioms beginning with swim, also see in the swim; sink or swim.

SWIM
solar wind interplanetary measurements

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