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swim
[ swim ]
verb (used without object)
- to move in water by movements of the limbs, fins, tail, etc.
- to float on the surface of water or some other liquid.
- to move, rest, or be suspended in air as if swimming in water.
- to move, glide, or go smoothly over a surface.
- to be immersed or steeped in or overflowing or flooded with a liquid:
eyes swimming with tears.
- to be dizzy or giddy; seem to whirl:
My head began to swim.
verb (used with object)
- to move along in or cross (a body of water) by swimming:
to swim a lake.
- to perform (a particular stroke) in swimming:
to swim a sidestroke.
- to cause to swim or float, as on a stream.
- to furnish with sufficient water to swim or float.
noun
- an act, instance, or period of swimming.
- a motion as of swimming; a smooth, gliding movement.
swim
/ swɪm /
verb
- intr to move along in water, etc, by means of movements of the body or parts of the body, esp the arms and legs, or (in the case of fish) tail and fins
- tr to cover (a distance or stretch of water) in this way
- tr to compete in (a race) in this way
- intr to be supported by and on a liquid; float
- tr to use (a particular stroke) in swimming
- intr to move smoothly, usually through air or over a surface
- intr to reel or seem to reel
my head swam
the room swam around me
- intr; often foll by in or with to be covered or flooded with water or other liquid
- introften foll byin to be liberally supplied (with)
he's swimming in money
- tr to cause to float or swim
- tr to provide (something) with water deep enough to float in
- swim against the tide or swim against the streamto resist prevailing opinion
- swim with the tide or swim with the streamto conform to prevailing opinion
noun
- the act, an instance, or period of swimming
- any graceful gliding motion
- a condition of dizziness; swoon
- a pool in a river good for fishing
- in the swim informal.fashionable or active in social or political activities
Derived Forms
- ˈswimming, nounadjective
- ˈswimmable, adjective
- ˈswimmer, noun
Other Words From
- swimma·ble adjective
- swimmer noun
- non·swimmer noun
- outswim verb outswam outswum outswimming
Word History and Origins
Origin of swim1
Word History and Origins
Origin of swim1
Idioms and Phrases
- in the swim, alert to or actively engaged in events; in the thick of things:
Despite her age, she is still in the swim.
More idioms and phrases containing swim
- in the swim
- sink or swim
Example Sentences
Two of the farmworkers fleeing the feds jumped into an aqueduct at the edge of the field and tried to swim away.
At another, a child peaks through the curtain of a sprawling ground-floor apartment with an outdoor swimming pool.
"I swam for 15 minutes before I was rescued by another boat," said the passenger, who did not identify himself.
The broadcast journalist was at one time a nationally ranked diver on the Pennsylvania State University swimming and diving team, according to the university’s website.
The kids love to go swimming; sometimes we’ll go for a hike in the mountains and that sort of thing.
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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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