swipe
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swipe
- /swaɪp/
Rhymes with -aɪp
Where it comes from
From earlier swip (with a short vowel), from Middle English swippen, swype (“to move violently”), from Old English sweopian, swipian, swippan (“to scourge, strike, beat, lash”), from Proto-West Germanic *swippjan, *swipōn, *swipēn, from Proto-Germanic *swipōną, *swipjaną, *swipāną (“to move”), from Proto-Indo-European *sweyb- (“to bend, sway, swing, sweep, swerve, turn”). Cognate with German schwippen (“sway back and forth”), Danish svippe (“to smack; crack a whip”), Icelandic svipa (“riding crop, whip”). Related to sweep, swoop.
verb swipes · swiping · swiped
- To grab or bat quickly. The cat swiped at the shoelace.
- To strike with a strong blow in a sweeping motion.
- To scan or register by sliding (a swipecard etc.) through a reader. He swiped his card at the door.
- To interact with a touch screen by drawing one's finger rapidly across it. Swipe left to hide the toolbar.
- To swipe right on (someone) on a dating application. Zac Efron needs a date. […] But would the actor resort to apps to find a partner? Joking, he said, “Amazingly, when I signed up for Tinder, nobody swiped me! They thought it was fake … That never happened.”
-
To steal or snatch.
Hey! Who swiped my lunch?
Similar: pinch, steal, abduct, abstract, appropriate, bag, bandit, bash and grab, bone, boost, burgle, burglarize
- To drink.
noun swipes
- A quick grab, bat, or other motion with the hand or paw; a sweep.
- A strong blow given with a sweeping motion, as with a bat or club.
- An act of interacting with a touch screen by drawing the finger rapidly across it. Some New Yorkers are moving beyond the swipe to venture into flirtatious panel discussions and speed dating sessions.
- An act of passing a swipecard through a card reader. Owning a car in New York City is seen as a liability by many, especially when a quick Uber ride or the swipe of a MetroCard can easily get you where you need to go.
- A rough guess; an estimate or swag. Take a swipe at the answer, even if you're not sure.
- An attack, insult or critical remark. The politician took a swipe at his opponents.
-
Poor, weak beer or other inferior alcoholic beverage; rotgut.
Woozy with swipe was the only way I could stay down with patience for work.
Similar: swipes
- An instance of swiping, a kind of ellipsis. See swiping. Furthermore, speakers accept the following swipes to varying degrees, with judgments best for (18a), slightly worse for (18b), and worst of all, though still marginally possible, for (18c).
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: pinch, lift, filch, purloin, pilfer, nobble, sneak, snarf, hook, abstract, cabbage, slide, blow, pass, rob, bite
Translations
Every language
verb to slide through a reader
| Español | deslizar, pasar |
|---|---|
| 中文 | 滑 huá |
| Français | glisser |
| Deutsch | einlesen, durchziehen |
| Italiano | passare |
| Русский | проводи́ть provodítʹ, провести́ provestí |
verb to interact with a touch screen
| Español | deslizar |
|---|---|
| 日本語 | スワイプ suwaipu |
| 中文 | 滑 huá, 划 huá |
| Português | deslizar |
| Français | faire glisser, swiper |
| Deutsch | wischen |
| Русский | проводи́ть provodítʹ, провести́ pf по сенсорному экрану provestí, сделать свайп, slang свайпнуть |
| Tiếng Việt | quẹt |
verb to steal or snatch
| Español | afanar, chorizar, robar, chorear, choricear, chorearse |
|---|---|
| 中文 | 偷 tōu |
| Português | surripiar, surrupiar |
| Français | voler, piquer, faucher, chourrer, dérober |
| Deutsch | klauen, stibitzen, mitgehen lassen |
| Italiano | fregare |
| Русский | стяну́ть stjanútʹ, укра́сть ukrástʹ, стащи́ть staščítʹ, спере́ть sperétʹ |
Talk about this word "swipe." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/swipe. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. swipe. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/swipe "swipe." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/swipe.Cite this
@misc{swipe_2026,
title = {swipe},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/swipe},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
