swim
Forms
- present (v1)
- swim
- past (v2)
- swam
- past participle (v3)
- swum
- present participle
- swimming
- 3rd person singular
- swims
- Plural
- swims
Definitions
1.To move through the water, without touching the bottom; to propel oneself in water by natural means.
- It's much too cold to swim.
- I knew how to swim.
- He is afraid to swim.
2.To become immersed in, or as if in, or flooded with, or as if with, a liquid.
- It's much too cold to swim.
- I knew how to swim.
- He is afraid to swim.
3.To move around freely because of excess space.
- A fam'd Sur-tout he wears, which once was blue, / And his foot swims in a capacious shoe.
4.To traverse (a specific body of water, or a specific distance) by swimming; or, to use a specific swimming stroke; or, to compete in a specific swimming event.
- Sometimes he thought to swim the stormy main.
- For exercise, we like to swim laps around the pool.
- I want to swim the 200-yard breaststroke in the finals.
1.An act or instance of swimming.
- She had a quick swim in the bay.
- I'm going for a swim.
2.The sound, or air bladder, of a fish.
3.A part of a stream much frequented by fish.
4.A dance or dance move of the 1960s in which the arms are moved in imitation of various swimming strokes, such as freestyle, breaststroke, etc.
Frequency
Overall
Uncommon· #3163
By learning goal
- Everyday conversation
- Rare
- General reading & writing
- Uncommon
- Academic
- Rare
- Literature
- Rare
Related words
Etymology
From Middle English swymmen, from Old English swimman (“to swim, float”) (class III strong verb; past tense swamm, past participle geswummen), from Proto-West Germanic *swimman, from Proto-Germanic *swimmaną (“to swim”), from Proto-Indo-European *swem(bʰ)- (“to be unsteady, move, swim”).