swim

== English == === 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”). ==== Pronunciation ==== (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA(key): /swɪm/ (South Asia) IPA(key): /sʋɪm/, (rounded) /s(ʋ)ʊm/ Rhymes: -ɪm ==== Verb ==== swim (third-person singular simple present swims, present participle swimming, simple past swam or (archaic) swum, past participle swum) (intransitive) To move through the water, without touching the bottom; to propel oneself in water by natural means. (intransitive) To become immersed in, or as if in, or flooded with, or as if with, a liquid. (intransitive) To move around freely because of excess space. (transitive) 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, uncommon) To cause to swim. (intransitive, archaic) To float. (intransitive) To be overflowed or drenched. (transitive) To immerse in water to make the lighter parts float. (transitive, historical) To test (a suspected witch) by throwing into a river; those who floated rather than sinking were deemed to be witches. (intransitive) To glide along with a waving motion. (intransitive) To have a great quantity of something. ===== Usage notes ===== In Late Middle English and Early Modern English, the present participle form swimmand still sometimes occurred in Midlands and Northern dialects, for exampleː The water to norish the fysh swymand. (14th c., The Creation in The Towneley plays, l. 55) Their young child Troiane, as swift as dolphin fish, swimmand away. (1513, Gavin Douglas, Virgil's Aeneid) ===== Conjugation ===== ===== Derived terms ===== ===== Translations ===== ==== Noun ==== swim (plural swims) An act or instance of swimming. The sound, or air bladder, of a fish. (UK) A part of a stream much frequented by fish. 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. (figurative) The flow of events; being in the swim of things. ===== Derived terms ===== ===== Translations ===== === 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”). ==== Noun ==== swim (plural swims) A dizziness; swoon. ==== Verb ==== swim (third-person singular simple present swims, present participle swimming, simple past swam or (archaic) swum, past participle swum) (intransitive) To be dizzy or vertiginous; have a giddy sensation; to have, or appear to have, a whirling motion. ===== Related terms ===== sweam sweamish sweem === Etymology 3 === Abbreviation of someone who isn't me. ==== Noun ==== swim (plural not attested) (Internet slang, text messaging) Abbreviation of someone who isn't me, used as a way to avoid self-designation or self-incrimination, especially in online drug forums. === See also === swim on Wikipedia.Wikipedia friend of mine === References === “swim”, in OneLook Dictionary Search. === Anagrams === WIMs, MIWs