Edit page | Page history | Printable version

swim

1. To pass or move over or on by swimming; as, to swim a stream. Sometimes he thought to swim the stormy main. (Dryden)

2. To cause or compel to swim; to make to float; as, to swim a horse across a river.

3. To immerse in water that the lighter parts may float; as, to swim wheat in order to select seed.

1. To be supported by water or other fluid; not to sink; to float; as, any substance will swim, whose specific gravity is less than that of the fluid in which it is immersed.

2. To move progressively in water by means of strokes with the hands and feet, or the fins or the tail. Leap in with me into this angry flood, And swim to yonder point. (Shak)

3. To be overflowed or drenched. Sudden the ditches swell, the meadows swim. (Thomson)

4. To be as if borne or floating in a fluid. [They] now swim in joy. (milton)

5. To be filled with swimming animals. [Streams] that swim full of small fishes. (Chaucer)

Origin: AS. Swimman; akin to D. Zwemmen, OHG. Swimman, G. Schwimmen, Icel. Svimma, Dan. Swomme, Sw. Simma. Cf. Sound an air bladder, a strait.

1. The act of swimming; a gliding motion, like that of one swimming.

2. The sound, or air bladder, of a fish.

3. A part of a stream much frequented by fish. Swim bladder, an air bladder of a fish. To be in the swim, to be in a favored position; to be associated with others in active affairs.

Source 3c3

Websters Dictionary