What does "swim" mean?
An act or instance of swimming.
Swim
/swɪm/ name, noun, pron, verb
name, noun, pron, verb ·Common ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: An act or instance of swimming.
- Grammar: swim is listed as name, noun, pron, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: swimming, aquaplaning, aquatics, australian crawl.
- Useful contrasts: drown, fords, paddle.
- Usage evidence: It is dangerous for you to swim in this river.
How to use "swim"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "swim" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "swim" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "swim" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "swim" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "swim" is acting as name, noun, pron, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "swimming" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "swim", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 An act or instance of swimming.
"I'm going for a swim."
- 2 A dizziness; swoon.
- 3 Abbreviation of someone who isn't me, used as a way to avoid self-designation or self-incrimination, especially in online drug forums. Internet, abbreviation, alt-of, no-plural
- 4 the act of swimming wordnet
- 5 The sound, or air bladder, of a fish.
Show 3 more definitions
- 6 A part of a stream much frequented by fish. UK
- 7 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.
"C'mon everybody! C'mon in! Bobby's goin' to show you how to do the swim."
- 8 The flow of events; being in the swim of things. figuratively
"With the road ahead now clear, Mann […] is plunging back into the swim of business in a hurry."
Verb
- 1 To move through the water, without touching the bottom; to propel oneself in water by natural means. intransitive
"We were now all upon a Level, as to our travelling; being unshipp’d, for our Bark would swim no farther, and she was too heavy to carry on our Backs […]"
- 2 To be dizzy or vertiginous; have a giddy sensation; to have, or appear to have, a whirling motion. intransitive
"My head was swimming after drinking two bottles of cheap wine."
- 3 be afloat either on or below a liquid surface and not sink to the bottom wordnet
- 4 To become immersed in, or as if in, or flooded with, or as if with, a liquid intransitive
"swimming in self-pity"
- 5 move as if gliding through water wordnet
Show 12 more definitions
- 6 To move around freely because of excess space. intransitive
"A fam'd Sur-tout he wears, which once was blue, / And his foot swims in a capacious shoe."
- 7 travel through water wordnet
- 8 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. transitive
"For exercise, we like to swim laps around the pool."
- 9 be covered with or submerged in a liquid wordnet
- 10 To cause to swim. transitive, uncommon
"to swim a horse across a river"
- 11 be dizzy or giddy wordnet
- 12 To float. archaic, intransitive
"sink or swim"
- 13 To be overflowed or drenched. intransitive
"I am weary with my groaning; all the night make I my bed to swim; I water my couch with my tears."
- 14 To immerse in water to make the lighter parts float. transitive
"to swim wheat in order to select seed"
- 15 To test (a suspected witch) by throwing into a river; those who floated rather than sinking were deemed to be witches. historical, transitive
- 16 To glide along with a waving motion. intransitive
- 17 To have a great quantity of something. intransitive
"You should be swimming in money after this job."
Pronoun
- 1 Someone who isn't me; someone who isn't myself Internet, singular, third-person
"SWIM would like to know how to grow marijuana."
Proper Noun
- 1 A surname.
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
"It is dangerous for you to swim in this river."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "swim"?
Common synonyms include: swimming, aquaplaning, aquatics, australian crawl, backstroke, balneation.
How do you use "swim" in a sentence?
It is dangerous for you to swim in this river.
How do you pronounce "swim"?
Pronounced /swɪm/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
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”). Cognates Cognate with North Frisian sweem, swome, swume, swumi, swumme, swääm (“to swim”), Saterland Frisian and West Frisian swimme (“to swim”), Dutch zwemmen (“to swim”), German schwimmen (“to swim”), Limburgish schwämme, zwömme (“to swim”), Low German swimmen (“to swim”), Luxembourgish schwammen (“to swim”), Vilamovian švymma, śwyma, śwymma (“to swim”), Yiddish שווימען (shvimen, “to swim”), Danish and Norwegian Bokmål svømme (“to swim”), Faroese svimja (“to swim”), Norn suma (“to swim”), Norwegian Nynorsk svemja, svemje, svømma, svømme, symja, symje (“to swim”), Swedish simma (“to swim”).
Etymology 2
From Middle English swime, sweme, swaime (“a dizziness, swoon, trance”), from Old English swīma (“a swoon, swimming in the head”). Cognate with Swedish svimma (“to swoon, faint”) and Danish svime (“to swoon, faint”) / Danish besvime (“to swoon, faint”).
Etymology 3
Abbreviation of someone who isn't me.