SWING

Pronunciation (US): (GB):

Irregular inflected form: swung

I. (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Changing location by moving back and forth

Synonyms:

swing; swinging; vacillation

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("swing" is a kind of...):

motion; move; movement (the act of changing location from one place to another)

Derivation:

swing (move or walk in a swinging or swaying manner)

swing (change direction with a swinging motion; turn)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A square dance figure; a pair of dancers join hands and dance around a point between them

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("swing" is a kind of...):

contra danse; contradance; contredanse; country-dance; country dancing (a type of folk dance in which couples are arranged in sets or face one another in a line)

Holonyms ("swing" is a part of...):

square dance; square dancing (American country dancing in which couples form squares)

Sense 3

Meaning:

In baseball; a batter's attempt to hit a pitched ball

Example:

he took a vicious cut at the ball

Synonyms:

baseball swing; cut; swing

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("swing" is a kind of...):

shot; stroke ((sports) the act of swinging or striking at a ball with a club or racket or bat or cue or hand)

Sense 4

Meaning:

The act of swinging a golf club at a golf ball and (usually) hitting it

Synonyms:

golf shot; golf stroke; swing

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("swing" is a kind of...):

shot; stroke ((sports) the act of swinging or striking at a ball with a club or racket or bat or cue or hand)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "swing"):

teeoff (the act of hitting a golf ball from the teeing ground at the start of each hole)

shank (a poor golf stroke in which the heel of the club hits the ball)

sclaff (a poor golf stroke in which the club head hits the ground before hitting the ball)

approach; approach shot (a relatively short golf shot intended to put the ball onto the putting green)

putt; putting (hitting a golf ball that is on the green using a putter)

explosion (a golf shot from a bunker that typically moves sand as well as the golf ball)

drive; driving (hitting a golf ball off of a tee with a driver)

draw; hook; hooking (a golf shot that curves to the left for a right-handed golfer)

fade; slice; slicing (a golf shot that curves to the right for a right-handed golfer)

downswing (a swing downward of a golf club)

Derivation:

swing (move in a curve or arc, usually with the intent of hitting)

Sense 5

Meaning:

A sweeping blow or stroke

Example:

he took a wild swing at my head

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("swing" is a kind of...):

blow (a powerful stroke with the fist or a weapon)

Derivation:

swing (hit or aim at with a sweeping arm movement)

swing (make a big sweeping gesture or movement)

swing (move in a curve or arc, usually with the intent of hitting)

Sense 6

Meaning:

Mechanical device used as a plaything to support someone swinging back and forth

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("swing" is a kind of...):

mechanical device (mechanism consisting of a device that works on mechanical principles)

plaything; toy (an artifact designed to be played with)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "swing"):

trapeze (a swing used by circus acrobats)

Holonyms ("swing" is a part of...):

playground (yard consisting of an outdoor area for children's play)

Derivation:

swing (hang freely)

Sense 7

Meaning:

A jaunty rhythm in music

Synonyms:

lilt; swing

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Hypernyms ("swing" is a kind of...):

rhythmicity (the rhythmic property imparted by the accents and relative durations of notes in a piece of music)

Derivation:

swing (play with a subtle and intuitively felt sense of rhythm)

swing (have a certain musical rhythm)

swingy (characterized by a buoyant rhythm)

Sense 8

Meaning:

A style of jazz played by big bands popular in the 1930s; flowing rhythms but less complex than later styles of jazz

Synonyms:

jive; swing; swing music

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("swing" is a kind of...):

jazz (a genre of popular music that originated in New Orleans around 1900 and developed through increasingly complex styles)

Derivation:

swing (have a certain musical rhythm)

swingy (characterized by a buoyant rhythm)

Sense 9

Meaning:

A state of steady vigorous action that is characteristic of an activity

Example:

it took time to get into the swing of things

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Hypernyms ("swing" is a kind of...):

action; activeness; activity (the state of being active)

II. (verb)

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Hypernyms (to "swing" is one way to...):

move back and forth (move in one direction and then into the opposite direction)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "swing"):

waver; weave (sway from side to side)

lash (lash or flick about sharply)

oscillate; vibrate (move or swing from side to side regularly)

brachiate (swing from one hold to the next)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s PP

Sentence example:

The wooden sticks swing

Derivation:

swing (changing location by moving back and forth)

swinger (someone who swings sports implements)

Sense 7

Meaning:

Change direction with a swinging motion; turn

Example:

swing forward

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Hypernyms (to "swing" is one way to...):

go; locomote; move; travel (change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically)

Sentence frames:

Something is ----ing PP
Somebody ----s PP

Derivation:

swing (changing location by moving back and forth)

Sense 8

Meaning:

Move in a curve or arc, usually with the intent of hitting

Example:

swing a bat

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Hypernyms (to "swing" is one way to...):

displace; move (cause to move or shift into a new position or place, both in a concrete and in an abstract sense)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "swing"):

wind up (give a preliminary swing to the arm pitching)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sentence example:

The girls swing the wooden sticks

Derivation:

swing (the act of swinging a golf club at a golf ball and (usually) hitting it)

swing (a sweeping blow or stroke)

swinger (someone who swings sports implements)

Sense 9

Meaning:

Be a social swinger; socialize a lot

Synonyms:

get around; swing

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Hypernyms (to "swing" is one way to...):

socialise; socialize (take part in social activities; interact with others)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Sense 10

Meaning:

Influence decisively

Example:

This action swung many votes over to his side

Synonyms:

swing; swing over

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Hypernyms (to "swing" is one way to...):

act upon; influence; work (have and exert influence or effect)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something

Sense 11

Meaning:

Live in a lively, modern, and relaxed style

Example:

The Woodstock generation attempted to swing freely

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Hypernyms (to "swing" is one way to...):

live (lead a certain kind of life; live in a certain style)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Sense 12

Meaning:

Hang freely

Example:

The light dropped from the ceiling

Synonyms:

dangle; drop; swing

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Hypernyms (to "swing" is one way to...):

hang (be suspended or hanging)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "swing"):

droop; loll (hang loosely or laxly)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Something is ----ing PP

Sentence example:

The lights swing from the ceiling

Derivation:

swing (mechanical device used as a plaything to support someone swinging back and forth)

swinging (changing location by moving back and forth)

Sense 13

Meaning:

Have a certain musical rhythm

Example:

The music has to swing

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Hypernyms (to "swing" is one way to...):

be (have the quality of being; (copula, used with an adjective or a predicate noun))

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Derivation:

swing (a jaunty rhythm in music)

swing (a style of jazz played by big bands popular in the 1930s; flowing rhythms but less complex than later styles of jazz)

Credits

Context examples:

Lattice-paned, lead framework, three separate windows, one swinging on hinge, and large enough to admit a man.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

At the top of the hill, however, they settled down into their swing once more.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

“There he goes,” said Holmes, as we watched the carriage swing and rock over the points.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

These sharp swings raised concerns about the impact to brain function.

(Chronic high blood sugar may be detrimental to the developing brain of young children, NIH)

Cycles in daily and annual sunlight cause the familiar swings in temperatures and seasons.

(Deep-sea sediments lead to new understanding of solar system, National Science Foundation)

Saturn will win this conversation, so double-check all your assumptions and wait a few days before you want to swing into action

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

When the dogs swung on a bend in the trail, he stepped over the rope.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

Bad luck to you! and then he swung the bag upon his back, and went off without even once looking at the children.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

But there is a hypothesis that our sun has a dark twin that likes to swing by every now and then, and stir things up.

(Our Sun Could Have Been Born With an Evil Twin Called "Nemesis", The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

OSIRIS-REx will make a swing by Earth next year to gain a gravity assist that will accelerate it even faster to reach Bennu, where it will eventually go into orbit.

(Evening Launch Catapults OSIRIS-REx Toward Asteroid Encounter, NASA)

SWING

Pronunciation (US): (GB):

I. (noun)

Sense 1

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Sense 9

II. (verb)

Verb forms

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Context examples:

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