swig
Americannoun
-
swigs
plural
verb (used with or without object)
-
swigs,
present (3rd person singular)
-
swigged,
past participle, past
-
swigging
present participle
noun
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
swigsimple
-
swigssimple
-
have swiggedperfect
-
has swiggedperfect
-
am swiggingprogressive
-
are swiggingprogressive
-
is swiggingprogressive
-
have been swiggingperfect progressive
-
has been swiggingperfect progressive
Past
-
swiggedsimple
-
had swiggedperfect
-
was swiggingprogressive
-
were swiggingprogressive
-
had been swiggingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of swig
First recorded in 1540–50; origin uncertain
Explanation
A swig is a big, fast gulp, like the swig you take from your water bottle after hiking up a hill on a hot summer day. If your dainty friend is delicately sipping her iced tea while you swig yours, you'll definitely be finished first. To swig is to take a big, healthy slurp of a drink. Originally this informal word was associated with alcoholic beverages, but today you can use it for anything you're drinking with gusto. Experts aren't sure where swig comes from, but some guess it's connected to the Old English swelgan, "to swallow."
Vocabulary lists containing swig
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
I took a swig and was struck by the jaw-clenching sweetness.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 4, 2026
Trying to wash it down, he took a quick swig of water.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 14, 2025
On cue, the camera cut to Rhea Perlman passing her silver flagon to Lisa Ann Walter, who took a swig.
From Salon ● Feb. 25, 2024
He deftly sliced off a thin piece of what looked to be mainly icing to try his cake before taking a swig from his water bottle.
From Washington Times ● May 5, 2023
Cole took a long swig of water from the botde.
From "Touching Spirit Bear" by Ben Mikaelsen
But every time someone swigs the raw milk, they’re taking that chance on everyone’s behalf—it’s like buying a lottery ticket for which the prize is a disaster, for everyone.
From Slate ● Dec. 4, 2024
De la Garza acquiesced and the pair shared a quick toast before taking their respective swigs.
From Salon ● Aug. 5, 2024
Florida Sen. Marco Rubio was able to take repeated swigs from a bottle of water during another infamous State of the Union rebuttal because someone was on set to get it to him.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 11, 2024
He lounges in a spartan room in a white tunic, taking swigs from a water bottle as he tells his story on a video call.
From Science Magazine ● Feb. 15, 2023
At the cooling station, I take giant swigs from my water bottle, then wet the bandanna I use to wipe the salt and perspiration off my grimy face.
From "Internment" by Samira Ahmed
The lemon squash, pilfered off the courts at the end of the day and swigged undiluted on the return coach trip, never even made it that far.
From BBC ● Jun. 28, 2023
In Powell’s videotaped testimony, she swigged from a can of Dr Pepper as she dismissed Cipollone and his team as worthless — and managed to do the impossible by making Giuliani look sane.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 12, 2022
Hader swigged kombucha, looking maximally frowzy; walking through the set, he’d muttered, “Dishevelled weirdo coming through.”
From The New Yorker ● Mar. 11, 2019
Wearing his everyday uniform — jeans, a woven belt, a purple plastic key ring — he cleared his throat, swigged some water, began singing the title song and stumbled over a phrase.
From New York Times ● Nov. 20, 2015
I wonder whether I actually took DayQuil when I was in the bathroom at home, or whether I accidentally swigged half of Hunter Marsh’s Alopeesh-Sure.
From "Landscape with Invisible Hand" by M.T. Anderson
Like Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, Burnham likes to be photographed swigging pints in pubs.
From BBC ● Jul. 19, 2026
We jumped out of bed and started answering emails and phone calls and swigging coffee, while trying not to wake up our two kids.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2023
“It’s just annoying,” she said, swigging water from a Mason jar.
From New York Times ● May 9, 2022
The playoffs had arrived, though, and so here came Brady, swigging from an oversized water bottle, designer bag slung around his shoulder, just the right amount of gel holding every hair in place.
From Washington Post ● Jan. 16, 2022
During one of these interruptions, he saw them standing on the concrete apron out front smoking and talking and swigging bottles of Coca-Cola.
From "The Best of Enemies" by Osha Gray Davidson
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
