swish
Use Swish in a sentence
verb (used without object)
1.
to move with or make a sibilant sound, as a slender rod cutting sharply through the air or as small waves washing on the shore.
2.
to rustle, as silk.
3.
to move or behave in an exaggeratedly effeminate manner.
verb (used with object)
4.
to flourish, whisk, etc., with a swishing movement or sound: to swish a cane.
5.
to bring, take, cut, etc., with such a movement or sound: to swish off the tops of plants with a cane.
6.
to flog or whip.
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Swish
is one of our favorite verbs.
So is absquatulate. Does it mean:
| to introduce subtleties into or argue subtly about. |
| to flee; abscond: |
noun
7.
a swishing movement or sound.
8.
a stock or rod for flogging or a stroke with this.
9.
Slang: Disparaging and Offensive. an effeminate male homosexual.
Origin:
1750–60; imitative
1750–60; imitative
Related forms
swish·er, noun
swish·ing·ly, adverb
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Link To swish
Collins
World English Dictionary
swish (swɪʃ) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —vb (foll by off) | |
| 1. | to move with or make or cause to move with or make a whistling or hissing sound |
| 2. | (intr) (esp of fabrics) to rustle |
| 3. | slang, rare (tr) to whip; flog |
| 4. | to cut with a swishing blow |
| —n | |
| 5. | a hissing or rustling sound or movement |
| 6. | a rod for flogging or a blow from such a rod |
| 7. | slang (US) an effeminate male homosexual |
| 8. | a W African building material composed of mortar and mud or laterite, or more recently of cement and earth |
| —adj | |
| 9. | informal chiefly (Brit) fashionable; smart |
| 10. | slang (US) effeminate and homosexual |
| [C18: of imitative origin] | |
| 'swisher | |
| —n | |
| 'swishing | |
| —adj | |
| 'swishingly | |
| —adv | |
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History
swish
1756, probably imitative of the sound made by something brushing against or through something. The noun is from 1820; sense of "effeminate homosexual" is 1930s in homosexual slang, probably from notion of mincing motion.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Slang Dictionary
swish definition[swɪʃ]
|
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Example sentences
Follow that treatment with a swish in hot water to which a bit of dish detergent has been added.
So they spend vast amounts of time stuffing and lubricating clients in private booths in swish restaurants.
Step on a dog sled and be carried away by the exuberance of a team in harness and the soft swish of sled runners on snow.
It was a cold, damp night but without the swish of breeze or patter of rain.
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