Swarthy – Sycophantize

Swarthy

SWARTH'Y, adjective [See Swart.] Being of a dark hue or dusky complexion; tawny. In warm climates, the complexion of men is universally swarthy or black. The Moors, Spaniards and Italians are more swarthy than the French, Germans and English.

Their swarthy hosts would darken all our plains.

1. Black; as the swarthy African.

Swartiness

SWART'INESS, noun A tawny color.

Swartish

SWART'ISH, adjective Somewhat dark or tawny.

Swarty

SWART'Y, adjective Swarthy; tawny.

Swarve

SWARVE, verb intransitive To swerve. [Not in use.]

Swash

SWASH, noun An oval figure, whose moldings are oblique to the axis of the work. [A cant word.]

SWASH, noun A blustering noise; a vaporing. [Not in use or vulgar.]

1. Impulse of water flowing with violence. In the southern states of America, swash or swosh is a name given to a narrow sound or channel of water lying within a sand bank, or between that and the shore. Many such are found on the shores of the Carolinas.

SWASH, verb intransitive To bluster; to make a great noise; to vapor or brag. [Not in use.]

SWASH

Swasher

SWASH'ER, noun One who makes a blustering show of valor or force of arms. [Not in use.]

Swashy

SWASH'Y, adjective Soft, like fruit too ripe. [Local.]

SWASH'-BUCKLER, noun A sword-player; a bully or braggadocio. [Not in use.]

Swat

SWAT

SWATCH, noun A swath. [Not in use.]

Swatch

SWATCH, n. A swath. [Not in use.]

Swate

SWATE, verb intransitive To sweat.

Swath

SWATH, noun swoth.

1. A line of grass or grain cut and thrown together by the sythe in mowing or cradling.

2. The whole breadth or sweep of a sythe in mowing or cradling; as a wide swath

3. A band or fillet. They wrapped me in a hundred yards of swath

Swathe

SWATHE, verb transitive To bind with a band, bandage or rollers; as, to swathe a child.

1. To bind or wrap.

Their children are never swathed or bound about with any thing when first born.

Sway

SWAY, verb transitive

1. To move or wave; to wield with the hand; as, to sway the scepter.

2. To bias; to cause to lean or incline to one side. Let not temporal advantages sway you from the line of duty. The king was swayed by his council from the course he intended to pursue.

As bowls run true by being made

On purpose false, and to be sway'd.

3. To rule; to govern; to influence or direct by power and authority, or by moral force.

This was the race

To sway the world, and land and sea subdue.

She could not sway her house.

Take heed lest passion sway

Thy judgment to do aught which else free will

Would not admit.

SWAY, verb intransitive To be drawn to one side by weight; to lean. A wall sways to the west.

The balance sways on our part.

[This sense seems to indicate that this word and swag, are radically one.]

1. To have weight or influence.

The example of sundry churches--doth sway much.

2. To bear rule; to govern.

Had'st thou sway'd as kings should do--

3. In seamen's language, to hoist, particularly applied to the lower yards and to the topmast yards, etc.

SWAY, noun The swing or sweep of a weapon.

To strike with huge two-handed sway

1. Any thing moving with bulk and power.

Are not you mov'd when all the sway of earth.

Shakes like a thing unfirm?

2. Preponderation; turn or cast of balance.

--Expert

When to advance, or stand, or turn the sway of battle.

3. Power exerted in governing; rule; dominion; control.

When vice prevails and impious men bear sway

The post of honor is a private station.

4. Influence; weight or authority that inclines to one side; as the sway of desires. All the world is subject to the sway of fashion.

Swayed

SWA'YED, participle passive Wielded; inclined to one side; ruled; governed; influenced; biased.

Swaying

SWA'YING, participle present tense Wielding; causing to lean; biasing; ruling.

SWA'YING, noun swaying of the back, among beasts, is a kind of lumbago, caused by a fall or by being overloaded.

Sweal

SWEAL, verb intransitive

1. To melt and run down, as the tallow of a candle; to waste away without feeding the flame.

2. To blaze away.

Swealing

SWE'ALING, participle present tense Melting and wasting away.

Swear

SWEAR, verb intransitive preterit tense swore. [Eng. veer; Latin assevero.]

1. To affirm or utter a solemn declaration, with an appeal to God for the truth of what is affirmed.

Ye shall not swear by my name falsely. Leviticus 19:12.

But I say unto you, swear not at all. Matthew 5:34.

2. To promise upon oath.

Jacob said, swear to me this day; and he swore to him. Genesis 25:33.

3. To give evidence an oath; as, to swear to the truth of a statement. He swore that the prisoner was not present at the riot.

4. To be profane; to practice profaneness.

Certain classes of men are accustomed to swear For men to swear is sinful, disreputable and odious; but for females or ladies to swear appears more abominable and scandalous.

SWEAR, verb transitive To utter or affirm with a solemn appeal to God for the truth of the declaration; as, to swear on oath. [This seems to have been the primitive use of swear; that is, to affirm.]

1. To put to an oath; to cause to take an oath; as, to swear witnesses in court; to swear a jury; the witness has been sworn; the judges are sworn into office.

2. To declare or charge upon oath; as, to swear treason against a man.

3. To obtest by an oath.

Now by Apollo, king, thou swear'st thy gods in vain.

To swear the peace against one, to make oath that one is under the actual fear of death or bodily harm from the person; in which case the person must find sureties of the peace.

Swearer

SWEARER, noun One who swears; one who calls God to witness for the truth of his declaration.

1. A profane person.

Then the liars and swearers are fools.

Swearing

SWEARING, participle present tense Affirming upon oath; uttering a declaration, with an appeal to God for the truth of it.

1. Putting upon oath; causing to swear.

SWEARING, noun The act or practice of affirming on oath. swearing in court is lawful.

1. Profaneness. All swearing not required by some law, or in conformity with law, is criminal. False swearing or perjury is a crime of a deep dye.

Sweat

SWEAT, noun swet. [Latin sudor.]

1. The fluid or sensible moisture which issues out of the pores of the skin of an animal.

In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread. Genesis 3:19.

2. Labor; toil; drudgery.

3. Moisture evacuated from any substance; as the sweat of hay or grain in a mow or stack.

SWEAT, verb intransitive swet. preterit tense and participle passive sweat or sweated. Swot is obsolete. [Latin sudo.]

1. To emit sensible moisture through the pores of the skin; to perspire. Horses sweat; oxen sweat little or not at all.]

2. To toil; to labor; to drudge.

He'd have the poets sweat

3. To emit moisture, as green plants in a heap.

SWEAT, verb transitive swet. To emit or suffer to flow from the pores; to exsude.

For him the rich Arabia sweats her gums.

1. To cause to emit moisture from the pores of the skin. His physicians attempted to sweat him by the most powerful sudorifics.

They sweat him profusely.

Sweater

SWEAT'ER, noun One that causes to sweat.

Sweatiness

SWEAT'INESS, noun The state of being sweaty or moist with sweat.

Sweating

SWEAT'ING, participle present tense Emitting moisture from the pores of the skin; throwing our moisture; exuding.

1. Causing to emit moisture upon the skin.

Sweating-Bath

SWEAT'ING-BATH, noun A sudatory; a bath for exciting sensible perspiration or sweat; a hypocaust or stove.

Sweating-House

SWEAT'ING-HOUSE, noun A house for sweating persons in sickness.

Sweating-Iron

SWEAT'ING-IRON, noun A kind of knife or a piece of a sythe, used to scrape off sweat from horses.

Sweating-Room

SWEAT'ING-ROOM, noun A room for sweating persons.

1. In rural economy, a room for sweating cheese and carrying off the superfluous juices.

Sweating-Sickness

SWEAT'ING-SICKNESS, noun A febril epidemic disease which prevailed in some countries of Europe, but particularly in England, in the 15th and 16th centuries. Its first appearance was in the army of the earl of Richmond, afterward Henry VII on his landing at Milford haven, in 1485. The invasion of the disease was sudden, and usually marked by a local affection producing the sensation of intense heat, afterwards diffusing itself over the whole body, and immediately followed by profuse sweating, which continued through the whole course of the disease or till death, which often happened in a few hours.

Sweaty

SWEAT'Y, adjective Moist with sweat; as a sweaty skin; a sweaty garment.

1. Consisting of sweat.

No noisy whiffs or sweaty streams.

2. Laborious; toilsome; as the sweaty forge.

Swede

SWEDE, noun A native of Sweden.

1. A Swedish turnep.

Swedish

SWE'DISH, adjective Pertaining to Sweden.

Swedish-Turnep

SWE'DISH-TURNEP, noun The ruta baga, a hard sort of turnep, of two kinds, the white and the yellow. The latter is most valued.

Sweep

SWEEP, verb transitive preterit tense and participle passive swept.

1. To brush or rub over with a brush, broom or besom, for removing loose dirt; to clean by brushing; as, to sweep a chimney or a floor. When we say, to sweep a room, we mean, to sweep the floor of the room; and to sweep the house, is to sweep the floors of the house.

2. To carry with a long swinging or dragging motion; to carry with pomp.

And like a peacock, sweep along his tail.

3. To drive or carry along or off by a long brushing stroke or force, or by flowing on the earth. Thus the wind sweeps the snow from the tops of the hills; a river sweeps away a dam, timber or rubbish; a flood sweeps away a bridge or a house. Hence,

4. To drive, destroy or carry off many at a stroke, or with celerity and violence; as, a pestilence sweeps off multitudes in a few days. The conflagration swept away whole streets of houses.

I have already swept the stakes.

5. To rub over.

Their long descending train,

With rubies edg'd and sapphires, swept the plain.

6. To strike with a long stroke.

Wake into voice each silent string,

And sweep the sounding lyre.

7. To draw or drag over; as, to sweep the bottom of a river with a net, or with the bight of a rope, to hook an anchor.

SWEEP, verb intransitive To pass with swiftness and violence, as something broad or brushing the surface of any thing; as a sweeping rain; a sweeping flood. A fowl that flies near the surface of land or water, is said to sweep along near the surface.

1. To pass over or brush along with celerity and force; as, the wind sweeps along the plain.

2. To pass with pomp; as, a person sweeps along with a trail.

She sweeps it through the court with troops of ladies.

3. To move with a long reach; as a sweeping stroke.

SWEEP, noun The act of sweeping.

1. The compass of a stroke; as a long sweep

2. The compass of any turning body or motion; as the sweep of a door.

3. The compass of any thing flowing or brushing; as, the flood carried away every thing within its sweep

4. Violent and general destruction; as the sweep of an epidemic disease.

5. Direction of any motion not rectilinear; as the sweep of a compass.

6. The mold of a ship when she begins to compass in, at the rung heads; also, any part of a ship shaped by the segment of a circle; as a floor-sweep; a back-sweep, etc.

7. Among refiners of metals, the almost-furnace.

8. Among seamen, a large oar, used to assist the rudder in turning a ship in a calm, or to increase her velocity in a chase, etc.

SWEEP of the tiller, a circular frame on which the tiller traverses in large ships.

Sweep-Net

SWEE'P-NET, noun [sweep and net.] A large net for drawing over a large compass.

Sweep-Sop

SWEEP-SOP, noun A name of the Annona squamosa.

Sweeper

SWEE'PER, noun One that sweeps.

Sweeping

SWEE'PING, participle present tense Brushing over; rubbing with a broom or besom; cleaning with a broom or besom; brushing along; passing over; dragging over.

Sweepings

SWEE'PINGS, noun plural Things collected by sweeping; rubbish. The sweepings of streets are often used as manure.

Sweepstake

SWEE'PSTAKE, noun [sweep and stake.] A man that wins all; usually sweepstakes.

Sweepy

SWEE'PY, adjective Passing with speed and violence over a great compass at once.

The branches bend before their sweepy sway.

1. Strutting.

2. Wavy.

Sweet

SWEET, adjective [Latin suavis.]

1. Agreeable or grateful to the taste; as, sugar or honey is sweet

2. Pleasing to the smell; fragrant; as a sweet rose; sweet odor; sweet incense. Exodus 26:1.

3. Pleasing to the ear; soft; melodious; harmonious; as the sweet notes of a flute or an organ; sweet music; a sweet voice.

4. Pleasing to the eye; beautiful; as a sweet face; a sweet color or complexion; a sweet form.

5. Fresh; not salt; as sweet water.

6. Not sour; as sweet fruits; sweet oranges.

7. Mild; soft; gentle.

Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades?

Job 38:31.

8. Mild; soft; kind; obliging; as sweet manners.

9. Grateful; pleasing.

SWEET interchange of hill and valley.

10. Making soft or excellent music; as a sweet singer.

11. Not stale; as sweet butter. The bread is sweet

12. Not turned; not sour; as sweet milk.

13. Not putrescent or putrid; as, the meat is sweet

SWEET, noun Something pleasing or grateful to the mind; as the sweets of domestic life.

A little bitter mingled in our cup, leaves no relish of the sweet

1. A sweet substance; particularly, any vegetable juice which is added to wines to improve them.

2. A perfume.

3. A word of endearment.

4. Cane juice, melasses, or other sweet vegetable substance.

Sweet-Apple

SWEET-APPLE, noun [sweet and apple.] The Annona squamosa.

Sweet-Bread

SWEET-BREAD, noun [sweet and bread.] The pancreas of a calf.

Sweet-Briar

SWEET-BRIAR, noun [sweet and briar.] A shrubby plant of the genus Rosa, cultivated for its fragrant smell.

Sweet-Broom

SWEE'T-BROOM, noun [sweet and broom.] A plant.

Sweet-Cicely

SWEET-CIC'ELY, noun A plant of the genus Scandix.

Sweet-Cictus

SWEET-CIC'TUS, noun A shrub, the gumcistus.

Sweet-Corn

SWEET-CORN, noun A variety of the maiz, of a sweet taste.

Sweet-Flag

SWEET-FLAG, noun A plant of the genus Acorus.

Sweet-Gum

SWEET-GUM, noun A tree of the genus Liquidambar.

Sweet-Heart

SWEET-HE'ART, noun A lover or mistress.

Sweet-Johns

SWEET-JOHN'S, noun A plant, a species of Dianthus.

Sweet-Marjoram

SWEET-M'ARJORAM, noun A very fragrant plant, of the genus Origanum.

Sweet-Maudlin

SWEET-MAUD'LIN, noun A species of Achillea.

Sweet-Pea

SWEET-PEA, noun A pea cultivated for ornament, of the genus Lathyrus.

Sweet-Root

SWEET-ROOT, noun The liquorice, or Glycyrrhiza.

Sweet-Rush

SWEET-RUSH, noun Another name of the sweet-flag, a species of Acorus.

Sweet-Scented

SWEE'T-SCENTED, adjective [sweet and scent.] Having a sweet smell; fragrant.

Sweet-Smelling

SWEE'T-SMELLING, adjective [sweet and smell.] Having a sweet smell; fragrant.

Sweet-Sultan

SWEET-SUL'TAN, noun A plant, a species of Centaurea.

Sweet-Weed

SWEET-WEED, noun A plant of the genus Capraria, and another of the genus Scoparia.

Sweet-William

SWEET-WIL'LIAM, noun The name of several species of pink, of the genus Dianthus.

The Dianthus barbatus, a species of pink of many varieties.

Sweet-Willow

SWEET-WIL'LOW, noun A plant, the Myrica gale, or Dutch myrtle.

Sweet-Wood

SWEET-WOOD, noun A plant, a species of Laurus.

Sweeten

SWEETEN, verb transitive swee'tn. To make sweet; as, to sweeten tea or coffee.

1. To make pleasing or grateful to the mind; as, to sweeten life; to sweeten friendship.

2. To make mild or kind; as, to sweeten the temper.

3. To make less painful; as, to sweeten the cares of life.

4. To increase agreeable qualities; as, to sweeten the joys or pleasures of life.

5. To soften; to make delicate.

Corregio has made his name immortal by the strength he has given to his figures, and by sweetening his lights and shades.

6. To make pure and salubrious by destroying noxious matter; as, to sweeten rooms or apartments that have been infected; to sweeten the air.

7. To make warm and fertile; as, to dry and sweeten soils.

8. To restore to purity; as, to sweeten water, butter or meat.

SWEETEN, verb intransitive swee'tn. To become sweet.

Sweetened

SWEE'TENED, participle passive Made sweet, mild or grateful.

Sweetener

SWEE'TENER, noun He or that which sweetens; he that palliates; that which moderates acrimony.

Sweetening

SWEE'TENING, participle present tense Making sweet or grateful.

Sweeting

SWEE'TING, noun A sweet apple.

1. A word of endearment.

Sweetish

SWEE'TISH, adjective Somewhat sweet or grateful to the taste.

Sweetishness

SWEE'TISHNESS, noun The quality of being sweetish.

Sweetly

SWEE'TLY, adverb In a sweet manner; gratefully; agreeable.

He sweetly temper'd awe.

No poet ever sweetly sung,

Unless he was, like Phoebus, young.

Sweetmeat

SWEE'TMEAT, noun [sweet and meat.] Fruit preserved with sugar; as peaches, pears, melons, nuts, orange peel, and the like.

Sweetness

SWEE'TNESS, noun The quality of being sweet, in any of its senses; as gratefulness to the taste; or to the smell, fragrance; agreeableness to the ear, melody; as sweetness of the voice; sweetness of elocution.

1. Agreeableness of manners; softness; mildness; obliging civility; as sweetness of behavior.

2. Softness; mildness; amiableness; as sweetness of temper.

Sweinmote

SWE'INMOTE

SWELL, verb intransitive preterit tense swelled; participle passive swelled. Swollen is nearly obsolete..

1. To grow larger; to dilate or extend the exterior surface or dimensions by matter added to the interior part, or by expansion of the inclosed substance. Thus the legs swell in dropsy; a bruised part swells; a tumor swells; a bladder swells by inflation.

2. To increase in size or extent by any addition; as, a river swells and overflows its banks.

3. To rise or be driven into waves or billows. In a tempest, the ocean swells into waves mountain high.

4. To be puffed up or bloated; as, to swell with pride.

5. To be gloated with anger; to be exasperated. He swells with rage.

6. To be inflated; to belly; as swelling sails.

7. To be turgid or bombastic; as swelling words; a swelling style.

8. To protuberate; to bulge out; as, a cask swells in the middle.

9. To be elated; to rise into arrogance.

Your equal mind yet swells not into state.

10. To grow more violent; as, a moderate passion may swell to fury.

11. To grow upon the view; to become larger.

--And monarachs to be hold the swelling scene.

12. To become larger in amount. Many little debts added, swell to a great amount.

13. To become louder; as, a sound gradually swells as it approaches.

14. To strut; to look big.

--Swelling like a turkey cock.

15. To rise in altitude; as, land swells into hills.

SWELL, verb transitive To increase the size, bulk or dimensions of; to cause to rise, dilate or increase. Rains and dissolving snow swell the rivers in spring, and cause floods. Jordan is swelled by the snows of mount Libanus.

1. To aggravate; to highten.

It is low ebb with the accuser, when such peccadillos are put to swell the charge.

2. To raise to arrogance; as, to be swelled with pride or haughtiness.

3. To enlarge. These sums swell the amount of taxes to a fearful size. These victories served to swell the fame of the commander.

4. In music, to augment, as the sound of a note.

SWELL, noun Extension of bulk.

1. Increase, as sound; as the swell of a note.

2. A gradual ascent or elevation of land; as an extensive plain abounding with little swells.

3. A wave or billow; more generally, a succession of large waves; as, a heavy swell sets into the harbor. Swell is also used to denote the waves or fluctuation of the sea after a storm, and the waves that roll in and break upon the shore.

4. In an organ, a certain number of pipes inclosed in a box, which being uncovered, produce a swell of sound.

Swell

SWELL, v.i. pret. swelled; pp. swelled. Swollen is nearly obsolete.. 1. To grow larger; to dilate or extend the exterior surface or dimensions by matter added to the interior part, or by expansion of the inclosed substance. Thus the legs swell in dropsy; a bruised part swells; a tumor swells; a bladder swells by inflation.2. To increase in size or extent by any addition; as, a river swells and overflows its banks.3. To rise or be driven into waves or billows. In a tempest, the ocean swells into waves mountain high.4. To be puffed up or bloated; as, to swell with pride.5. To be gloated with anger; to be exasperated. He swells with rage.6. To be inflated; to belly; as swelling sails.7. To be turgid or bombastic; as swelling words; a swelling style.8. To protuberate; to bulge out; as, a cask swells in the middle.9. To be elated; to rise into arrogance. Your equal mind yet swells not into state. 10. To grow more violent; as, a moderate passion may swell to fury.

11. To grow upon the view; to become larger. --And monarachs to be hold the swelling scene. 12. To become larger in amount. Many little debts added, swell to a great amount.

13. To become louder; as, a sound gradually swells as it approaches.

14. To strut; to look big. --Swelling like a turkey cock. 15. To rise in altitude; as, land swells into hills.

SWELL, v.t. To increase the size, bulk or dimensions of; to cause to rise, dilate or increase. Rains and dissolving snow swell the rivers in spring, and cause floods. Jordan is swelled by the snows of mount Libanus. 1. To aggravate; to highten. It is low ebb with the accuser, when such peccadillos are put to swell the charge.2. To raise to arrogance; as, to be swelled with pride or haughtiness.3. To enlarge. These sums swell the amount of taxes to a fearful size. These victories served to swell the fame of the commander.4. In music, to augment, as the sound of a note. SWELL, n. Extension of bulk. 1. Increase, as sound; as the swell of a note.2. A gradual ascent or elevation of land; as an extensive plain abounding with little swells.3. A wave or billow; more generally, a succession of large waves; as, a heavy swell sets into the harbor. Swell is also used to denote the waves or fluctuation of the sea after a storm, and the waves that roll in and break upon the shore.4. In an organ, a certain number of pipes inclosed in a box, which being uncovered, produce a swell of sound.

Swelled

SWELL'ED, participle passive Enlarged in bulk; inflated; tumefied.

Swelling

SWELL'ING, participle present tense Growing or enlarging in its dimensions; growing tumid; inflating; growing tumid; inflating; growing or making louder.

SWELL'ING, noun A tumor, or any morbid enlargement of the natural size; as a swelling on the hand or leg.

1. Protuberance; prominence.

The superficies of such plates are not even, but have many cavities and swellings.

2. A rising or enlargement by passion; as the swellings of anger, grief or pride.

Swelt

SWELT, for swelled, is not in use.

SWELT, verb intransitive To faint; to swoon.

SWELT, verb transitive To overpower, as with heat; to cause to faint. [We now use swelter.]

Swelter

SWELT'ER, verb intransitive [from swelt.] To be overcome and faint with heat; to be ready to perish with heat.

SWELT'ER, verb transitive To oppress with heat.

Sweltered

SWELT'ERED, participle passive Oppressed with heat.

Sweltering

SWELT'ERING, participle present tense Fainting or languishing with heat; oppressing with heat.

Sweltry

SWELT'RY, adjective Suffocating with heat; oppressive with heat; sultry. [See Sultry, which is probably a contraction of sweltry ]

Swept

SWEPT, preterit tense and participle passive of sweep.

Swerd

SWERD, for sward, is not in use.

Swerve

SWERVE, verb intransitive swerv.

1. To wander; to rove.

The swerving vines on the tall elms prevail.

2. To wander from any line prescribed, or from a rule of duty; to depart from what is established by law, duty or custom; to deviate.

I swerve not from thy commandments.

They swerve from the strict letter of the law.

Many who, through the contagion of evil example, swerve exceedingly from the rules of their holy religion--

3. To bend; to incline.

4. To climb or move forward by winding or turning.

The tree was high,

Yet nimbly up from bough to bough I swerv'd.

[This use of the word coincides with that of swarm, which see.]

Swerving

SWERV'ING, participle present tense Roving; wandering; deviating from any rule or standard; inclining; climbing or moving by winding and turning.

SWERV'ING, noun The act of wandering; deviation from any rule, law, duty or standard.

Swift

SWIFT, adjective

1. Moving a great distance or over a large space in a short time; moving with celerity or velocity; fleet; rapid; quick; speedy. We say, soft winds, a swift stream, swift lightnings, swift motion, swift as thought, a fowl swift of wing, a man swift of foot. swift is applicable to any kind of motion.

2. Ready; prompt.

Let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath. James 1:19.

3. Speedy; that comes without delay.

There shall be false teachers among you, who shall privily bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. 2 Peter 2:1.

SWIFT, noun The current of a stream. [Little used.]

1. In domestic affairs, a reel or turning instrument for winding yarn. [This is a sense directly from the Saxon verb.]

2. A bird, a species of swallow, so called from the rapidity of its flight.

3. The common newt or eft, a species of lizard.

Swifter

SWIFT'ER, noun In a ship, a rope used to confine the bars of the capstan in their sockets, while men are turning it; also, a rope used to encircle a boat longitudinally, to strengthen and defend her sides from the impulse of other boats. Swifters also are two shrouds fixed on the starboard and larboard sides of the lower masts, above all the other shrouds, to give the masts additional security.

SWIFT'ER, verb transitive To stretch, as shrouds by tackles.

Swiftly

SWIFT'LY, adverb Fleetly; rapidly; with celerity; with quick motion or velocity.

Pleas'd with the passage, we slide swiftly on.

Swiftness

SWIFT'NESS, noun Speed; rapid motion; quickness; celerity; velocity; rapidity. swiftness is a word of general import, applicable to every kind of motion, and to every thing that moves; as the swiftness of a bird; the swiftness of a stream; swiftness of descent in a falling body; swiftness of thought, etc.

Swig

SWIG, verb transitive or i. To drink by large draughts; to suck greedily.

SWIG, noun A large draught. [Vulgar.]

1. In seamen's language, a pulley with ropes which are not parallel.

SWIG, verb transitive To castrate, as a ram, by binding the testicles tight with a string. [Local.]

Swill

SWILL, verb transitive

1. To drink grossly or greedily; as, to swill down great quantities of liquors.

2. To wash; to drench.

3. To inebriate; to swell with fullness.

I should be loth

To meet the rudeness and swill'd insolence

Of such late wassailers.

SWILL, noun Large draughts of liquor; or drink taken in excessive quantities.

1. The wash or mixture of liquid substances, given to swine; called in some places swillings.

Swilled

SWILL'ED, participle passive Swallowed grossly in large quantities.

Swiller

SWILL'ER, noun One who drinks voraciously.

Swilling

SWILL'ING, participle present tense Swallowing excessive quantities of liquors.

Swillings

SWILL'INGS, noun Swill.

Swim

SWIM, verb intransitive

1. To float; to be supported on water or other fluid; not to sink. Most species of wood will swim in water. 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 the motion of the hands and feet, or of fins. In Paris, boys are taught to swim by instructors appointed for that purpose. Isaiah 25:11.

Leap in with me into this angry flood,

And swim to yonder point.

3. To float; to be borne along by a current. In all states there are men who will swim with the tide of popular opinion.

4. To glide along with a smooth motion, or with a waving motion.

She with pretty and with swimming gait.

A hov'ring mist came swimming o'er his sight.

5. To be dizzy or vertiginous; to have a waving motion of the head or a sensation of that kind, or a reeling of the body. The head swims when we walk on high.

6. To be floated; to be overflowed or drenched; as, the earth swims in rain.

Sudden the ditches swell, the meadows swim

All the night I make my bed to swim; I water my couch with my tears. Psalms 6:6.

7. To overflow; to abound; to have abundance.

They now swim in joy.

SWIM, verb transitive To pass or move on; as, to swim a stream. Deer are known to swim rivers and sounds.

Sometimes he thought to swim the stormy main.

1. To immerse in water that the lighter parts may swim; as, to swim wheat for seed.

Swimm

SWIMM, noun The bladder of fishes, by which they are said to be supported in water.

Swimmer

SWIM'MER, noun One that swims.

1. A protuberance on the leg of a horse.

Swimming

SWIM'MING, participle present tense Floating on a fluid; moving on a fluid; having a waving or reeling motion; overflowing; abounding.

SWIM'MING, noun The act or art of moving on the water by means of the limbs; a floating.

1. Dizziness.

Swimmingly

SWIM'MINGLY, adverb Smoothly; without obstruction; with great success. [Not elegant.]

Swindle

SWIN'DLE, verb transitive To cheat and defraud grossly, or with deliberate artifice; as, to swindle a man out of his property.

Swindled

SWIN'DLED, participle passive Grossly cheated and defrauded.

Swindler

SWIN'DLER, noun A cheat; a rogue; one who defrauds grossly, or one who makes a practice of defrauding others by imposition or deliberate artifice.

Swine

SWINE, noun sing. and plural A hog, a quadruped of the genus Sus, which furnishes man with a large portion of his most nourishing food. The fat or lard of this animal enters into various dishes in cookery. The swine is a heavy, stupid animal, and delights to wallow in the mire.

Swine-Bread

SWI'NE-BREAD, noun A kind of plant, truffle.

Swine-Case

SWI'NE-CASE

SWI'NE-COAT

SWI'NE-CRUE, noun A hog sty; a pen for swine. [Local.]

Swine-Coat

SWI'NE-COAT

Swine-Crue

SWI'NE-CRUE, n. A hog sty; a pen for swine. [Local.]

Swine-Grass

SWI'NE-GRASS, noun [Latin centinodia, knot grass.] A plant.

Swine-Oat

SWI'NE-OAT, noun [swine and oat.] A kind of oats, cultivated for the use of pigs, as in Cornwall; the Avena nuda of botanists.

Swine-Pipe

SWI'NE-PIPE, noun [swine and pipe.] A bird, the red-wing. [Local.]

Swine-Pocks

SWI'NE-POCKS

SWI'NE-POX, noun The chicken-pocks. A variety of the chicken-pocks, with acuminated vesicles containing a watery fluid; the water pox.

Swine-Pox

SWI'NE-POX, n. The chicken-pocks. A variety of the chicken-pocks, with acuminated vesicles containing a watery fluid; the water pox.

Swine-Stone

SWI'NE-STONE, noun [swine and stone.] A name given to those kinds of

limestone which, when rubbeD, emit a fetid odor, resembling that of naphtha combined with sulphurated hydrogen.

Swine-Sty

SWI'NE-STY, noun A sty or pen for swine.

Swine-Thistle

SWI'NE-THISTLE, noun A plant, the sow thistle.

Swineherd

SWI'NEHERD, noun [swine and herd.] A keeper of swing.

Swines-Cress

SWI'NE'S-CRESS, noun A species of cress, of the genus Cochlearia.

Swing

SWING, verb intransitive preterit tense and participle passive swung.

1. To move to and fro, as a body suspended in the air; to wave; to vibrate.

I tried if a pendulum would swing faster, or continue swinging longer in our receiver, if exhausted.

2. To practice swinging; as, a man swings for health or pleasure.

3. To move or float; also, to turn round an anchor; as, a ship swings with the tide.

SWING, verb transitive To make to play loosely; to cause to wave or vibrate; as a body suspended in the air.

1. To whirl round in the air.

--Swing thee in air, then dash thee down.

2. To wave; to move to and from; as, a man swings his arms when he walks.

He swings his tail, and swiftly turns him round.

3. To brandish; to flourish.

SWING, noun A waving or vibratory motion; oscillation; as the swing of a pendulum.

1. Motion from one side to the other. A haughty man struts or walks with a swing

2. A line, cord or other thing suspended and hanging loose; also, an apparatus suspended for persons to swing in.

3. Influence or power of a body put in motion.

The ram that batters down the wall,

For the great swing and rudeness of his poise--

4. Free course; unrestrained liberty or license.

Take thy swing

To prevent any thing which may prove an obstacle to the full swing of his genius.

5. The sweep or compass of a moving body.

6. Unrestrained tendency; as the prevailing swing of corrupt nature; the swing of propensities.

SWING'-BRIDGE, noun [swing and bridge.] A bridge that may be moved by swinging; used on canals.

Swing-Wheel

SWING'-WHEEL, noun [swing and wheel.] In a time piece, the wheel which drives the pendulum. In a watch, or balance clock, it is called the crown-wheel.

Swinge

SWINGE, verb transitive swinj.

1. To beat soundly; to whip; to bastinade; to chastise; to punish.

You swing'd me for my love.

--And swings his own vices in his son.

2. To move as a lash. [Not in use.]

[This verb is obsolescent and vulgar.]

SWINGE, noun swinj. A sway; a swing; the sweep of any thing in motion [Not in use.]

Swinge-Buckler

SWINGE-BUCKLER, noun swingj-buckler. A bully; one who pretends to feats of arms. [Not in use.]

Swinger

SWING'ER, noun One who swings; one who hurls.

Swinging

SWING'ING, participle present tense of swing. Waving; vibrating; brandishing.

SWING'ING, noun The act of swinging; an exercise for health or pleasure.

SWING'ING, participle present tense of swinge. Beating soundly.

1. adjective Hugh; very large. [Vulgar.]

Swingingly

SWING'INGLY, adverb Vastly; hugely. [Vulgar.]

Swingle

SWIN'GLE, verb intransitive [from swing.] To dangle; to wave hanging.

1. To swing for pleasure. [Not in use.]

SWIN'GLE, verb transitive To beat; to clean flax by beating it with a wooden instrument resembling a large knife, and called in New England a swingling knife. Flax is first broke and then swingled.

SWIN'GLE, noun In wire-works, a wooden spoke fixed to the barrel that draws the wire; also, a crank.

Swingle-Tree

SWIN'GLE-TREE, noun A whiffle-tree or whipple-tree.

Swingled

SWIN'GLED, participle passive Beat and cleaned by a swingling knife.

Swingling

SWIN'GLING, participle present tense Beating and cleaning, as flax.

Swingling-Knife

SWIN'GLING-KNIFE

SWIN'GLE, noun A wooden instrument like a large knife, about two feet long, with one thin edge, used for cleaning flax of the shives.

Swingling-Tow

SWIN'GLING-TOW, noun The coarse part of flax, separated from the finer by swingling and hatcheling.

SWING'-TREE, , noun [swing and tree.] The bar of a carriage to which the traces are fastened. In America, it is often or generally called the whiffle-tree, or whipple-tree.

Swinish

SWI'NISH, adjective [from swine.] Befitting swine; like swine; gross; hoggish; brutal; as a swinish drunkard or sot; swinish gluttony.

Swink

SWINK, verb intransitive To labor; to toil; to drudge.

SWINK, verb transitive To overlabor.

SWINK, noun Labor; toil; drudgery.

Swinker

SWINK'ER, noun A laborer; a plowman.

Swipe

SWIPE, noun A swape or sweep, which see.

Swipper

SWIP'PER, adjective Nimble; quick. [Not in use.]

Swiss

SWISS, noun A native of Switzerland or Swisserland.

1. The language of Swisserland.

Switch

SWITCH, noun A small flexible twig or rod.

On the medal, Mauritania leads a horse by a thread with one hand, and in the other holds a switch

SWITCH, verb transitive To strike with a small twig or rod; to beat; to lash.

SWITCH, verb intransitive To walk with a jerk.

Swivel

SWIVEL, noun swiv'l.

1. A ring which turns upon a staple; or a strong link of iron used in mooring ships, and which permits the bridles to be turned round; any ring or staple that turns.

2. A small cannon or piece of artillery, carrying a shot of half a pound, fixed on a socket on the top of a ship's side, stern or bow, or in her tops, in such a manner as to be turned in any direction.

SWIVEL, verb intransitive swiv'l. To turn on a staple, pin or pivot.

Swivel-Hook

SWIV'EL-HOOK, noun A hook that turns in the end of an iron block strap, for the ready taking the turns out of a tackle.

Swob

SWOB, noun A mop. [See Swab.]

SWOB, verb transitive To clean or wipe with a swob [See Swab.]

Swobber

SWOB'BER, noun One who swabs or cleans with a mop. [See Swabber.]

1. Swobbers, four privileged cards, only used incidentally in betting at the game of whist.

Swollen

SWOLLEN

SWOLN, participle passive of swell; irregular and obsolescent. The regular participle, swelled, is to be preferred.

Swoln

SWOLN, pp. of swell; irregular and obsolescent. The regular participle, swelled, is to be preferred.

Swom

SWOM, old preterit tense of swim, is obsolete. We now use swum and swam.

Swoon

SWOON, verb intransitive To faint; to sink into a fainting fit, in which there is a suspension of the apparent vital functions and mental powers.

The most in years swoon'd first away for pain.

He seemed ready to swoon away in the surprise of joy.

SWOON, noun A fainting fit; lipothymy; syncope.

Swooning

SWOON'ING, participle present tense Fainting away.

SWOON'ING, noun The act of fainting; syncope.

Swoop

SWOOP, verb transitive [This is probably from sweep, or the same root.]

1. To fall on at once and seize; to catch while on the wing; as, a hawk swoops a chicken; a kite swoops up a mouse.

2. To seize; to catchup; to take with a sweep.

3. To pass with violence.

SWOOP, verb intransitive To pass with pomp.

SWOOP, noun A falling on and seizing, as of a rapacious fowl on his prey.

The eagle fell--and carried away a whole litter of cubs at a swoop

Swop

SWOP, verb transitive To exchange; to barter; to give one commodity for another. [See Swap. This is a common word, but not in elegant use.]

Sword

SWORD, noun

1. An offensive weapon worn at the side, and used by hand either for thrusting or cutting.

2. Figuratively, destruction by war.

I will bring a sword upon you. Leviticus 26:6. Isaiah 51:19.

3. Vengeance or justice.

She quits the balance, and resigns the sword

4. Emblem of authority and power.

The ruler--beareth not the sword in vain. Romans 13:4.

5. War; dissension.

I came not to send peace, but a sword Matthew 10:34.

6. Emblem of triumph and protection.

The Lord--the sword of thy excellence. Deuteronomy 33:29.

Sword-Bearer

SWORD-BEARER, noun [sword and bear.] An officer in the city of London, who carries a sword as an emblem of justice before the lord mayor when he goes abroad.

Sword-Belt

SWORD-BELT, noun [sword and belt.] A belt by which a sword is suspended and borne by the side.

Sword-Blade

SWORD-BLADE, noun [sword and blade.] The blade or cutting part of a sword.

Sword-Fight

SWORD-FIGHT, noun [sword and fight.] Fencing; a combat or trial of skill with swords.

Sword-Fish

SWORD-FISH, noun [sword and fish.] A genus of fishes called in ichthyology, xiphias; so named from the nose, snout or upper jaw, which is shaped like a sword.

Sword-Grass

SWORD-GRASS, noun [sword and grass.] A kind of sedge, glader; the sweet rush, a species of Acorus.

Sword-Knot

SWORD-KNOT, noun [sword and knot.] A ribin tied to the hilt of a sword.

Sword-Law

SWORD-LAW, noun [sword and law.] Violence; government by force.

Sword-Man

SWORD-MAN, noun [sword and man.] A soldier; a fighting man.

Sword-Player

SWORD-PLAYER, noun [sword and player.] A fencer; a gladiator; one who exhibits his skill in the use of the sword.

Sword-Shaped

SWORD-SHAPED, adjective [sword and shape.] Ensiform; shaped like a sword; as a sword-shaped leaf.

Sworded

SWORDED, adjective Girded with a sword.

Sworder

SWORDER, noun A soldier; a cut-throat. [Not in use.]

Swore

SWORE, preterit tense of swear.

Sworn

SWORN, participle passive of swear. The officers of government are sworn to a faithful discharge of their duty.

SWORN friends, is a phrase equivalent to determined, close or firm friends.

I am sworn brother, sweet,

To grim necessity.

SWORN enemies, are determined or irreconcilable enemies.

Swound

SWOUND, verb intransitive To swoon. [Not in use.]

Swum

SWUM, preterit tense and participle passive of swim.

Swung

SWUNG, preterit tense and participle passive of swing.

Syb

SYB

SIB, adjective Related by blood.

Sybaritic

SYBARIT'IC

SYBARIT'ICAL, adjective [from Sybaritoe, inhabitants of Sybaris, in Italy, who were proverbially voluptuous.] Luxurious; wanton.

Sybaritical

SYBARIT'ICAL, a. [from Sybaritoe, inhabitants of Sybaris, in Italy, who were proverbially voluptuous.] Luxurious; wanton.

Sycamine

SYCAMINE. [See Sycamore.]

Sycamore

SYC'AMORE, noun [Gr. a fig.] A species of fig-tree. The name is also given to the Acer majus, [A.pseudo-platanus, ] a species of maple.

This name is also given to the plane tree or button-wood, of the genus Platanus.

Sycamore-Moth

SYC'AMORE-MOTH, noun A large and beautiful moth or night butterfly; so called because its caterpillar feeds on the leaves of the sycamore.

Sycite

SYC'ITE, noun [Gr. fig.] Fig-stone; a name which some authors give to nodules of flint or pebbles which resemble a fig.

Sycophancy

SYC'OPHANCY, noun [infra.] Originally, information of the clandestine exportation of figs; hence, mean talebearing; obsequious flattery; servility.

Sycophant

SYC'OPHANT, noun [Gr. a fig, and to discover.] Originally, an informer against those who stole figs, or exported them contrary to law, etc. Hence in time it came to signify a talebearer or informer, in general; hence, a parasite; a mean flatterer; especially a flatterer of princes and great men; hence, a deceiver; an impostor. Its most general use is in the sense of an obsequious flatterer or parasite.

SYC'OPHANT

Sycophantic

SYCOPHANT'IC, adjective Talebearing; more generally, obsequiously flattering; parasitic; courting favor by mean adulation.

1. sycophantic plants, or parasites, are such as adhere to other plants, and depend on them for support.

Sycophantize

SYC'OPHANTIZE, verb transitive To play the sycophant; to flatter meanly and officiously; to inform or tell tales for gaining favor.