swing
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swing¹
- /ˈswɪŋ/
Rhymes with -ɪŋ
Where it comes from
From Middle English swyngen, from Old English swingan, from Proto-West Germanic *swingan, from Proto-Germanic *swinganą (compare Low German swingen, German schwingen, Dutch zwingen, Swedish svinga), from Proto-Indo-European *swenk-, *sweng- (compare Scottish Gaelic seang (“thin”)). Related to swink.
verb swings · swinging · swung · swang
- To rotate about an off-centre fixed point. The plant swung in the breeze.
- To dance.
- To ride on a swing. The children laughed as they swung.
- To participate in the swinging lifestyle; to participate in wifeswapping. 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.
-
To hang from the gallows; to be punished by hanging, swing for something or someone; (often hyperbolic) to be severely punished.
“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.
Similar: dance on a rope, dance on nothing, dance the hempen jig, dance the Tyburn jig, dance upon nothing, dangle, hang, ride a horse foaled by an acorn, stretch hemp, string up, swing, take a ride to Tyburn
- (of a bowler) To make the ball move sideways in its trajectory.
- To move sideways in its trajectory.
- To fluctuate or change. It wasn't long before the crowd's mood swung towards restless irritability.
- To move (an object) backward and forward; to wave. He swung his sword as hard as he could.
- To change (a numerical result); especially to change the outcome of an election.
- To make (something) work; especially to afford (something) financially. 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.
- To move one's arm in a punching motion.
- In dancing, to turn around in a small circle with one's partner, holding hands or arms. "to swing one's partner", or simply "to swing"
- To admit or turn something for the purpose of shaping it; said of a lathe. 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.
- To turn round by action of wind or tide when at anchor. A ship swings with the tide.
- To turn in a different direction. 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. swing both ways
- To engage in sexual activity with a man (specifically, with his penis) 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 swings
- The act, or an instance, of swinging. 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 hap
- The manner in which something is swung. He worked tirelessly to improve his golf swing.
- The sweep or compass of a swinging body.
- A line, cord, or other thing suspended and hanging loose, upon which anything may swing.
- 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. To Edward […] he was terrible, nerve-inflaming, poisonously asphyxiating. He sat rocking himself in the late Mr. Churchill's swing chair, smoking and twaddling.
- An energetic and acrobatic late-1930s partner-based dance style, also known as jitterbug and lindy-hop.
- The genre of music associated with this dance style. 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. Miss Pole came round with a swing to as vehement a belief in the sorrowful tale as she had been sceptical before […]
- In an election, the increase or decrease in the number of votes for opposition parties compared with votes for the incumbent party. The polls showed a wide swing to Labour.
- Sideways movement of the ball as it flies through the air.
- Capacity of a turning lathe, as determined by the diameter of the largest object that can be turned in it.
- In a musical theater production, a performer who understudies several roles. 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.
- The maximum amount of change that has occurred or can occur; the sum of the maximum changes in any direction. 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, Haal
- Free course; unrestrained liberty. Take thy swing.
- Influence or power of anything put in motion.
- A type of hook with the arm more extended.
Swing²
proper noun Swings
- A surname.
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: sway, dangle, sweep, cut, get around, jive, drop, lilt, baseball swing, golf shot, golf stroke, swing music, swing out, swing over, oscillate, tilting
Translations
Every language
verb (''intransitive'') to rotate about an off-centre fixed point
| Español | balancear, mecerse, bambolear, bambalear, bambonear, bambanear |
|---|---|
| 日本語 | 振れる fureru, 揺さぶる yusaburu, 揺れる yureru |
| 中文 | 擺動 /摆动 bǎidòng, 搖擺 /摇摆 yáobǎi, 擺蕩 /摆荡 bǎidàng, 擺 /摆 bǎi |
| Português | balançar |
| Français | osciller, se balancer, balancer |
| Deutsch | schwingen, schaukeln, schwanken |
| Italiano | oscillare, ondeggiare, altalenare, dondolare |
| Ελληνικά | κουνιέμαι kouniémai |
| Română | balansa, legăna, oscila |
| Русский | кача́ться kačátʹsja, раска́чиваться raskáčivatʹsja |
| Tiếng Việt | đu, đung đưa |
| العربية | تَأَرْجَحَ taʔarjaḥa |
verb to dance
| Français | swinguer |
|---|
verb to ride on a swing
| Español | columpiarse, mecerse, hamaquearse, hamacarse |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 그네뛰다 geune-ttwida |
| Português | andar de baloiço |
| Français | se balancer |
| Deutsch | schaukeln |
| Italiano | altalenare |
| Русский | кача́ться kačátʹsja |
verb to participate in swinging lifestyle
| Deutsch | swingen |
|---|
verb (transitive) to move an object backward and forward
| Español | mecer, balancear, columpiar, vaivenear, bambolear, bambalear |
|---|---|
| Français | balancer |
| Ελληνικά | κουνώ kounó |
verb to make something work
| Français | se permettre |
|---|
verb music: to produce a bouncy, uneven rhythm
| Deutsch | schwingen |
|---|
noun electoral change
| Français | revirement |
|---|---|
| Ελληνικά | μεταστροφή metastrofí |
noun manner in which something is swung
| Français | balancement |
|---|---|
| Română | balans |
| Русский | разма́х razmáx, зама́х zamáx, взма́х vzmáx |
noun hanging seat
| Español | columpio, hamaca, fuin fuan, tambesco |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 그네 geune |
| 日本語 | ブランコ buranko, 鞦韆 buranko |
| 中文 | 鞦韆 /秋千 qiūqiān |
| Português | balanço, baloiço, balouço |
| Français | balançoire |
| Deutsch | Schaukel |
| Italiano | altalena |
| Ελληνικά | κούνια koúnia |
| Română | leagăn |
| Русский | каче́ли kačéli |
| Tiếng Việt | xích đu |
| العربية | أُرْجُوحَة ʔurjūḥa, مُرْجِيحَة murjīḥa |
| עברית | נַדְנֵדָה |
noun music style
| 日本語 | スイング suingu |
|---|---|
| Português | swing |
| Français | swing |
| Deutsch | Swing |
| Ελληνικά | σουίνγκ souíngk |
| Русский | свинг sving |
noun substitute musical theater performer
| Français | doublure |
|---|
noun type of hook in boxing
| Español | swing |
|---|---|
| Français | coup de poing balancé |
| Русский | свинг sving |
Talk about this word "swing." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/swing. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. swing. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/swing "swing." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/swing.
Cite this
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@misc{swing_2026,
title = {swing},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/swing},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
