swing

Plural: swings

Noun

• a state of steady vigorous action that is characteristic of an activity
  • "the party went with a swing"
  • "it took time to get into the swing of things"
• mechanical device used as a plaything to support someone swinging back and forth
• a sweeping blow or stroke
  • "he took a wild swing at my head"
• changing location by moving back and forth
• a style of jazz played by big bands popular in the 1930s; flowing rhythms but less complex than later styles of jazz
• a jaunty rhythm in music
• the act of swinging a golf club at a golf ball and (usually) hitting it
• in baseball; a batter's attempt to hit a pitched ball
• a square dance figure; a pair of dancers join hands and dance around a point between them
• The act, or an instance, of swinging.
• The manner in which something is swung.
• The sweep or compass of a swinging body.
• A line, cord, or other thing suspended and hanging loose, upon which anything may swing.
• A hanging seat that can swing back and forth, in a children's playground, for acrobats in a circus, or on a porch for relaxing.
• An energetic and acrobatic late-1930s partner-based dance style, also known as jitterbug and lindy-hop.
• The genre of music associated with this dance style.
• The amount of change towards or away from something.
• The amount of change towards or away from something.
• In an election, the increase or decrease in the number of votes for opposition parties compared with votes for the incumbent party.
• Sideways movement of the ball as it flies through the air.
• Capacity of a turning lathe, as determined by the diameter of the largest object that can be turned in it.
• In a musical theater production, a performer who understudies several roles.
• A basic dance step in which a pair link hands and turn round together in a circle.
• The maximum amount of change that has occurred or can occur; the sum of the maximum changes in any direction.
• Free course; unrestrained liberty.
• Influence or power of anything put in motion.
• A type of hook with the arm more extended.

Verb

Verb Forms: swung, swang, swinging, swings

• To move freely back and forth, or cause to do so.
• move in a curve or arc, usually with the intent of hitting
  • "swing a bat"
• move or walk in a swinging or swaying manner
• change direction with a swinging motion; turn
  • "swing back"
  • "swing forward"
• influence decisively
• make a big sweeping gesture or movement
• hang freely
• hit or aim at with a sweeping arm movement
  • "The soccer player began to swing at the referee"
• alternate dramatically between high and low values
  • "his mood swings"
  • "the market is swinging up and down"
• live in a lively, modern, and relaxed style
  • "The Woodstock generation attempted to swing freely"
• have a certain musical rhythm
  • "The music has to swing"
• be a social swinger; socialize a lot
• play with a subtle and intuitively felt sense of rhythm
• engage freely in promiscuous sex, often with the husband or wife of one's friends
  • "There were many swinging couples in the 1960's"
• To rotate about an off-centre fixed point.
• To dance.
• To ride on a swing.
• To participate in the swinging lifestyle; to participate in wifeswapping.
• To hang from the gallows; to be punished by hanging, swing for something or someone; (often hyperbolic) to be severely punished.
• To move sideways in its trajectory.
• (of a bowler) To make the ball move sideways in its trajectory.
• To fluctuate or change.
• To move (an object) backward and forward; to wave.
• To change (a numerical result); especially to change the outcome of an election.
• To make (something) work; especially to afford (something) financially.
• To play notes that are in pairs by making the first of the pair slightly longer than written (augmentation) and the second shorter, resulting in a bouncy, uneven rhythm.
• To move one's arm in a punching motion.
• In dancing, to turn around in a small circle with one's partner, holding hands or arms.
• To admit or turn something for the purpose of shaping it; said of a lathe.
• To put (a door, gate, etc.) on hinges so that it can swing or turn.
• To turn round by action of wind or tide when at anchor.
• To turn in a different direction.
• To be sexually oriented.

Examples

• "to swing one's partner", or simply "to swing"
• A ship swings with the tide.
• Door swing indicates direction the door opens.
• He swung his sword as hard as he could.
• He worked tirelessly to improve his golf swing.
• Her strategy began to swing wildly as she struggled to find high-scoring Words With Friends plays.
• If it’s not too expensive, I think we can swing it.
• It wasn't long before the crowd's mood swung towards restless irritability.
• swing both ways
• The children laughed as they swung.
• The lathe can swing a pulley of 12 inches diameter.
• The plant swung in the breeze.
• The polls showed a wide swing to Labour.
• the swing of a pendulum

Synonyms

baseball swing, cut, dangle, drop, get around, golf shot, golf stroke, jive, lilt, sway, sweep, swing music, swing out, swing over, swinging, vacillation, dance on a rope, dance on nothing, dance the Tyburn jig, dance the hempen jig, dance upon nothing, hang, ride a horse foaled by an acorn, stretch hemp, string up, swing, take a ride to Tyburn, trine, truss, wag hemp

Anagrams of swing