Subscriber login


Forgot your password?

Library card login

Other

swim

Pronunciation: /swɪm/

Translate swim | into French | into German | into Italian | into Spanish
Definition of swim

verb (swims, swimming; past swam /swam/; past participle swum /swʌm/)

[no object]
  • 1propel the body through water by using the limbs, or (in the case of a fish or other aquatic animal) by using fins, tail, or other bodily movement:they swam ashore he swims thirty lengths twice a week
  • [with object] cross (a particular stretch of water) by swiming:she swam the Channel
  • float on or at the surface of a liquid: bubbles swam on the surface
  • [with object] cause to float or move across water:the Russians were able to swim their infantry carriers across
  • 2be immersed in or covered with liquid:mashed potatoes swimming in gravy
  • 3appear to reel or whirl before one’s eyes:Emily rubbed her eyes as the figures swam before her eyes
  • experience a dizzily confusing sensation in one’s head:the drink made his head swim

noun

  • 1an act or period of swimming:we went for a swim in the river
  • 2a pool in a river which is a particularly good spot for fishing:he landed two 5lb chub from the same swim

Phrases

in the swim

involved in or aware of current affairs or events.

swim with (or against) the tide

act in accordance with (or against) the prevailing opinion or tendency.

Derivatives

swimmable

adjective

swimmer

noun

Origin:

Old English swimman (verb), of Germanic origin; related to Dutch zwemmen and German schwimmen

In standard English the past tense of swim is swam (she swam to the shore) and the past participle is swum (she had never swum there before). In the 17th and 18th centuries swam and swum were used interchangeably for the past participle, but this is not acceptable in standard modern English.

swim in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of swim in the US English dictionary

Nearby words

  |  Cite

More words in this category

Word of the day

leporine

/ ˈlɛpərʌɪn /
adjective
of or resembling a hare or hares …