swarf
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swarf¹
- /swɔːf/ UK
- /swɔɹf/ US
Rhymes with -ɔː(ɹ)f, -ɔːf
Where it comes from
From Middle English *swarf, *swerf, from Old English ġeswearf, ġesweorf (“iron filings; rust”) and/or Old Norse svarf (“metallic dust”), both from Proto-Germanic *swarbą (“that which is rubbed off; shavings”), from Proto-Germanic *swerbaną (“to mop, wipe; to rub off”); see further at swerve. The word is cognate to Old English sweorfan (“to rub, scour; to file”).
noun swarfs
-
The waste chips or shavings from an abrasive activity, such as metalworking, a saw cutting wood, or the use of a grindstone or whetstone.
Filings of iron, called Swarf, the barrel — — 0 [shillings] 2 [pence]
Similar: turnings
- A particular waste chip or shaving. These swarfs, especially if they are of the tin bronze type, can usually be re-melted, after passing over a magnetic separator, by adding a small percentage to each charge of the alloy issued to the foundry for melting.
verb swarfs · swarfing · swarfed
- To grind down. A machine for swarfing the joining edges of parts or sub-assemblies having compound angle surfaces is announced by the Rockford Machine Tool Co., Rockford, 111.
swarf²
- /swɔːf/ UK
- /swɔɹf/ US
Rhymes with -ɔː(ɹ)f, -ɔːf
Where it comes from
From Middle English swarven, swerven (“to go; to deviate, turn aside; to stagger, be unsteady; to swerve”), from Old English sweorfan (“to wipe; to polish; to rub, scour; to file”), from Proto-Germanic *swerbaną (“to mop, wipe; to rub off”). The word is cognate to Middle Dutch swerven (“to rove; to stray”) (whence Dutch zwerven (“to roam”)), Low German swarven (“to rove; to stray; to riot”), Old Norse svarfa (“to sweep; to be agitated, upset”), Norwegian svarva (“to agitate”), sverva (“to whirl”). See swerve.
verb swarfs · swarfing · swarfed
- To grow languid; to faint. Meg, rinnin like a flae in blanket, / Her coats upon a lang nail hanket, / That gart her coup the creels [i.e., fall head over heels] an' ſqueel, / "Ah! Sirce, I'm gruppet by a de'il!" / An' as ſhe near the threſhold lay, / Wae's me! ſhe near hand ſwarf'd away!
noun swarfs
- A faint or swoon. And when they had ſo continued feaſting for a ſhort time, they had been ſo ſerved before, and the food was ſo rare and excellent, that they fell into a ſwarf, and cried out, Cant[icle of Canticles] ii. 4, 5. 'He hath brought me into the banqueting-houſe, and his banner over me was love. O ſtay me wi
Translations
Talk about this word "swarf." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/swarf. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. swarf. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/swarf "swarf." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/swarf.Cite this
@misc{swarf_2026,
title = {swarf},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/swarf},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
