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• swan
  swan

  noun

  any of several large, stately aquatic birds of the subfamily Anserinae, having a long, slender neck and usually pure-white plumage in the adult.
• Swan
  Swan

  noun

  Sir Joseph Wilson, 1828–1914, British chemist, electrical engineer, and inventor.

swan

¹ American  

[swon] / swɒn /

noun

• swans
  plural

1. any of several large, stately aquatic birds of the subfamily Anserinae, having a long, slender neck and usually pure-white plumage in the adult.

2. a person or thing of unusual beauty, excellence, purity, or the like.

3. Literary. a person who sings sweetly or a poet.

4. Astronomy. Swan, the constellation Cygnus.

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swan ² American  

[swon] / swɒn /

verb (used without object)

• swans,
  present (3rd person singular)
• swanned,
  past participle,  past
• swanning
  present participle

1. Midland and Southern U.S. Older Use. to swear or declare (used withI ).

   Well, I swan, I never expected to see you here!

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Swan ³ American  

[swon] / swɒn /

noun

1. Sir Joseph Wilson, 1828–1914, British chemist, electrical engineer, and inventor.

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swan ¹ British  

/ swɒn /

noun

1. any large aquatic bird of the genera Cygnus and Coscoroba, having a long neck and usually a white plumage: family Anatidae, order Anseriformes

2. rare

   1. a poet

   2. ( capital when part of a title or epithet )

      the Swan of Avon (Shakespeare)

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verb

1. informal (intr; usually foll by around or about) to wander idly

Swan ² British  

/ swɒn /

noun

1. a river in SW Western Australia, rising as the Avon northeast of Narrogin and flowing northwest and west to the Indian Ocean below Perth. Length: about 240 km (150 miles)

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Swan ³ British  

/ swɒn /

noun

1. Sir Joseph Wilson. 1828–1914, English physicist and chemist, who developed the incandescent electric light (1880) independently of Edison

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• swanlike
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• swans
  plural

Participles

• swanning
  present
• swanned
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• swan
  simple
• swans
  simple
• have swanned
  perfect
• has swanned
  perfect
• am swanning
  progressive
• are swanning
  progressive
• is swanning
  progressive
• have been swanning
  perfect progressive
• has been swanning
  perfect progressive

Past

• swanned
  simple
• had swanned
  perfect
• was swanning
  progressive
• were swanning
  progressive
• had been swanning
  perfect progressive

Future

• will swan
  simple
• will have swanned
  perfect
• will be swanning
  progressive
• will have been swanning
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of swan¹

First recorded before 900; Middle English, Old English; cognate with German Schwan, Old Norse svanr

Origin of swan²

1775–85, probably continuing dial. (N England) I s'wan, shortening of I shall warrant

Explanation

In "The Ugly Duckling," a young bird is mistaken for a duck until it grows up to be a beautiful swan. A swan is a large bird with a long, elegant neck. You're most likely to see swans in the water, but they also spend some time on land. Baby swans are called cygnets, and as adults, they're either cobs (if male), or pens (if female). If you're lucky enough to see a whole group of swans swimming or flying together, you can call it a bevy of swans. Swan comes from a root meaning "to sing."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

swan Swan swans swanned swanning

After weeks of scorching heat and drought the summer's swan song is set to be one of frequent downpours as well as gales for some.

From BBC ● Aug. 29, 2026

They had come to witness more of Messi’s miracles, not his World Cup swan song.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 7, 2026

Now contrast those ancient memories with the Wu-Tang Clan’s national conquest in 2025, when their alleged swan song tour, “Wu-Tang Forever: The Final Chamber,” became one of summer’s hottest legacy tickets.

From Salon ● May 31, 2026

That sounds like a pretty definitive answer ... more than 11 months ago when Rodgers stated on “The Pat McAfee Show” that he was “pretty sure” the 2025 season would be his NFL swan song.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 20, 2026

“Craig Salt's yacht's over in Poole, so he drove over to address the troops. Couldn't just swan off to the local fleapit with you, I'm afraid.”

From "Black Swan Green" by David Mitchell

"Swan Song: Diana, My Sister" will be published in Britain and other countries on September 22 and translated into 12 languages.

From Barron's ● Aug. 19, 2026

As Haberman and her colleague Jonathan Swan have detailed, Harp’s main job is offering a steady stream of reassurances to Trump.

From Salon ● Aug. 19, 2026

There’s a second, subtler reason, found in “Regime Change,” a new book by New York Times reporters Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 18, 2026

It was won by English lightweight powerlifter Mark Swan.

From BBC ● Aug. 3, 2026

“But he will need some explanation for why I’m around here so much. I don’t want Chief Swan getting a restraining order put on me.”

From "Twilight" by Stephenie Meyer

Mary, on the other hand, is a clumsy bird who, in Hadlow’s telling, becomes a perfectly capable duckling swimming fiercely amid a bevy of swans.

From Salon ● May 20, 2026

"I hate any kind of pollution to be honest, there's blue and green algae here, there's bird flu, ducks and swans dying."

From BBC ● Mar. 10, 2026

The deaths of more than 20 swans along a stretch of river is suspected to have been caused by avian flu.

From BBC ● Jan. 19, 2026

“It looks very shortsighted to me,” said Mark Green as he fed scraps of stale bread to a group of swans gliding along Christchurch’s waterfront.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 19, 2026

I guess it’s technically a pond, but it’s got swans and geese and it reflects the blue sky and the big puffs of white clouds.

From "Sparrow" by Sarah Moon

But Laing told The Sunday Times it was wrong to assume he "just swanned in".

From BBC ● Mar. 3, 2024

For over a decade, Faye and Manny swanned about in the village pond, and each spring hatched and raised cygnets.

From Seattle Times ● May 31, 2023

In New York City, Madonna famously swanned into a party hosted by DJ trio the Misshapes to promote her 2005 disco-pop album “Confessions on a Dance Floor.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 6, 2022

Under cloudless skies, ladies swanned about in colorful broad-brimmed hats and gentlemen donned seersucker suits, the trademark pageantry of the sport of kings.

From Salon ● Dec. 10, 2021

Wearing soft, loose clothing of vampire-bat wool, he swanned around his palaces with a bowl of palm wine or chicha, a sweet, muddy, beer-like drink usually made from crushed maize.

From "1491" by Charles C. Mann

Whether you’re swanning around with an iPhone, a gold Rolex watch, a diamond ring or a string of pearls, try not to flash them when you’re out in public.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 3, 2026

Though she looks young and hip, she’s truly an old soul who dreams of living like her dear grandmother, swanning about in colorful caftans, not caring about what other people think.

From Seattle Times ● Aug. 11, 2022

Indeed, given the firestorm, no one wants to be called out for not supporting fellow nominees by swanning through the red carpet while awards are being presented.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 23, 2022

"Susan certainly lived in the fantasy world. In her head she was swanning around in the Hollywood of the 1940s, being dated by Gary Cooper," he says.

From BBC ● Dec. 6, 2021

She took no time for posturing or swanning, but tilted immediately off in a stiff dive, angling toward the west side of the tank.

From The Little Lady of the Big House by Jack London