swing
 swing (swĭng)v. swung, (swŭng) swing·ing, swingsv. intr.
1. To move back and forth suspended or as if suspended from above.
2. To hit at something with a sweeping motion of the arm:
swung at the ball.
3. To move laterally or in a curve:
The car swung over to the curb.
4. To turn in place on or as if on a hinge or pivot.
5. To move along with an easy, swaying gait:
swinging down the road.
6. To propel oneself from one place or position to another by grasping a fixed support:
swinging through the trees.
7. To ride on a swing.
8. To shift from one attitude, interest, condition, or emotion to another; vacillate.
9. Slang. To be put to death by hanging.
10. Music.
a. To have a subtle, intuitively felt rhythm or sense of rhythm.
b. To play with a subtle, intuitively felt sense of rhythm.
11. Slang.
a. To be lively, trendy, and exciting.
b. To engage freely in promiscuous sex.
c. To exchange sex partners. Used especially of married couples.
d. To have a sexual orientation toward one or both sexes.v. tr.
1. To cause to move back and forth, as on a swing.
2. To cause to move in a broad arc or curve:
swing a bat; swung the car over.
3.
a. To cause to move with a sweeping motion:
swinging his arms.
b. To lift and convey with a sweeping motion:
swung the cargo onto the deck.
4. To suspend so as to sway or turn freely:
swung a hammock between two trees.
5.
a. To suspend on hinges:
swing a shutter.
b. To cause to turn on hinges:
swung the door shut.
6. To cause to shift from one attitude, position, opinion, or condition to another.
7. Informal.
a. To manage or arrange successfully:
swing a deal.
b. To bring around to the desired result:
swing an election.
8. Music. To play (music) with a subtle, intuitively felt sense of rhythm.n.
1. The act or an instance of swinging; movement back and forth or in one particular direction.
2. The sweep or scope of something that swings:
The pendulum's swing is 12 inches.
3. A blow or stroke executed with a sweeping motion of the arm.
4. The manner in which one swings something, such as a bat or golf club.
5. A shift from one attitude, position, or condition to another:
a swing to conservatism.
6. Freedom of action:
The children have free swing in deciding what color to paint their room.
7.
a. A swaying, graceful motion:
has a swing to her walk.
b. A sweep back and forth:
the swing of a bird across the sky.
8. A course or tour that returns to the starting point:
a swing across the state while campaigning.
9. A seat suspended from above, as by ropes, on which one can ride back and forth for recreation.
10. The normal rhythm of life or pace of activities:
back in the swing.
11. A steady, vigorous rhythm or movement, as in verse.
12. A regular movement up or down, as in stock prices.
13. Music.
a. A type of popular dance music developed about 1935 and based on jazz but employing a larger band, less improvisation, and simpler harmonic and rhythmic patterns.
b. A ballroom dance performed to this music.
c. A subtle, intuitively felt rhythmic quality or sense of rhythm.adj.
1. Music. Relating to or performing swing:
a swing band.
2. Determining an outcome; decisive:
the swing vote.Idiom:in full swing
At the highest level of activity or operation. [Middle English swingen, to beat, brandish, from Old English swingan, to flog, strike, swing.] swingʹy adj.
Synonyms: swing, oscillate, sway, rock2, vibrate, fluctuate, undulate, waver
These verbs mean to move back and forth, up and down, or to and fro: Swing usually applies to arclike movement of something attached at one extremity and free at the other: The ship's lanterns swung violently in the raging storm. Oscillate literally refers to a steady back-and-forth motion, as that of a pendulum; figuratively, it denotes vacillation, as between conflicting purposes: “a king... oscillating between fear of Rome and desire of independence” (Walter Besant). Sway suggests the movement of something unsteady, light, or flexible: “thousands of the little yellow blossoms all swaying to the light wind” (W.H. Hudson). To rock is to swing gently or rhythmically or sway or tilt violently: “The ruins of the ancient church seemed actually to rock and threaten to fall” (Sir Walter Scott). Vibrate implies quick periodic oscillations; it can also suggest trembling, pulsating, or quivering: “Music, when soft voices die,/Vibrates in the memory” (Percy Bysshe Shelley). Fluctuate implies fairly constant alternating change: “Prices fluctuated violently from the irregularity of the crops” (Lesley B. Simpson). Undulate refers to smooth wavelike movement: “gleaming seaweed that curls and undulates with the tide” (Willa Cather). Waver suggests unsteady, uncertain movement: A police officer stopped the driver who was wavering from lane to lane.
|
|
