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• swat
  swat

  verb (used with object)

  to hit; slap; smack.
• Swat
  Swat

  noun

  a former princely state in NW India: now a part of Pakistan.
• SWAT
  SWAT

  noun

  a special section of some law enforcement agencies trained and equipped to deal with especially dangerous or violent situations, as when hostages are being held (often used attributively).

swat

¹ American  

[swot] / swɒt /

Or swot

verb (used with object)

swatted, swatting

1. to hit; slap; smack.

2. Baseball. to hit (a ball) powerfully, usually for a long distance.

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noun

• swats
  plural

1. a smart blow; slap; smack.

2. Baseball. a powerfully hit ball.

swat ² American  

[swot] / swɒt /

verb

Dialect.

1. simple past tense and past participle of sweat.

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swat ³ American  

[swot] / swɒt /

verb (used without object)

swatted, swatting

1. swot.

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Swat ⁴ American  

[swaht] / swɑt /

noun

1. a former princely state in NW India: now a part of Pakistan.

2. Also a Muslim inhabitant of Swat.

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SWAT ⁵ American  

[swot] / swɒt /

Or S.W.A.T.

noun

1. a special section of some law enforcement agencies trained and equipped to deal with especially dangerous or violent situations, as when hostages are being held (often used attributively).

   a SWAT team.

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verb (used with or without object)

swatted, SWATted, swatting, SWATting

1. Usually swat to cause a SWAT team to be deployed on (an unsuspecting victim, especially a public figure or someone prominent on social media) by falsifying a threat, often as a punishment or retaliation.

   His plan was to swat other gamers during their streaming broadcasts so everyone would see it happen.

   The film’s director was swatted when the sequel disappointed fans.

swat ¹ British  

/ swɒt /

verb

1. to strike or hit sharply

   to swat a fly

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noun

1. another word (esp Brit) for swatter

2. a sharp or violent blow

Swat ² British  

/ swɒt /

noun

1. a former princely state of NW India: passed to Pakistan in 1947

2. a river in Pakistan, rising in the north and flowing south to the Kabul River north of Peshawar. Length: about 640 km (400 miles)

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SWAT ³ British  

/ swɒt /

acronym

1. Special Weapons and Tactics: a military-like unit within the US police force, trained to deal with specially dangerous situations, such as hostage-taking and riots

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swat ⁴ British  

/ swɒt /

verb

1. a variant of swot 1

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• swats
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of swat¹

First recorded in 1615–25; originally variant of squat

Origin of SWAT⁵

First recorded in 1965–70; acronym from S(pecial) W(eapons) a(nd) T(actics)

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Explanation

To swat is to hit or bat at something. You might try to swat a fly with a rolled-up magazine and then watch your cat swat at it with her paws. Someone who's attacked by a swarm of wasps will swat at them as they run away, and a kid who's annoyed at her sister might swat her, too. The smack itself is also called a swat. Experts suspect that swat is an alteration of the Middle English swap, "to strike," which mimics the sound of a sharp blow.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

swat Swat SWAT swats swatted swatting

Meanwhile, Crosby’s camp sought to swat down any notion that his knee was actually a problem.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 11, 2026

If they can swat aside the Pumas, while injuries stretch the squad into another new shape, the impression of impregnability will only grow.

From BBC ● Nov. 23, 2025

Even House Rep. Chip Roy, an otherwise-reliable conspiracist, took to social media to swat down this feel-good hoax.

From Slate ● Jul. 7, 2025

Even the British have been trying to swat back Americanisms.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 3, 2025

She’d clearly been prepared to swat a naughty boy, and now looked at the first grader in astonishment.

From "Stella by Starlight" by Sharon M. Draper

Abdul Salam, who lives in Punjab, told BBC Urdu of the moment he realised his wife, two daughters and son may have been caught in the Swat Valley floods.

From BBC ● Aug. 18, 2025

Some 50 charlifts dot the hillsides of nearby Swat Valley.

From Reuters ● Aug. 26, 2023

Swat is also home to Malala Yousafzai, an activist for girls’ education in the region who survived an assassination attempt by the Taliban in 2012.

From New York Times ● Apr. 25, 2023

The short circuits occurred on Monday at a munition warehouse within the facility in Swat, a district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province bordering Afghanistan.

From Seattle Times ● Apr. 24, 2023

Instead, he goes to conferences on girls’ education and he speaks out for peace as he used to do in Swat.

From "Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Changed the World" by Malala Yousafzai

"SWAT team, bomb squad, K9 team, gang unit, negotiators, drone team. Every single asset we have to bring this to the safest conclusion is out here right now," he continued.

From BBC ● Jun. 3, 2026

And Los Angeles Police Department SWAT, bomb squad and snipers will be in the area, law enforcement sources told The Times.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 13, 2026

The sheriff's office added that the gunman's home in Anaconda had been searched, and "cleared by SWAT" teams.

From BBC ● Aug. 1, 2025

Mr. McCraw excoriated Mr. Arredondo for letting injured children and teachers languish while waiting for SWAT, protective equipment and keys.

From New York Times ● Oct. 12, 2022

Lopez is a member of the department’s elite Special Enforcement Bureau, which includes SWAT, sources told The Times.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 27, 2022

He either swats away shot attempts or, more often, makes would-be shooters run away in terror before they even look at the rim—a phenomenon known as the “Nope.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 7, 2026

What’s next, a robotic baseball player named Babe that swats 500-foot home runs and throws 120 mph pitches, eclipsing Shohei Ohtani’s real-life achievements and commanding a billion dollar contract?

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 23, 2026

Jennie could be your cool older sister, all dark sunglasses and leather jackets, as she swats away her choreography like a pesky house fly.

From BBC ● Aug. 15, 2025

In another video, of a man who takes his wife to lunch, there is a short clip of his wife trying to steal a French fry, before he quickly swats her hand away.

From New York Times ● Apr. 24, 2023

Brother Vu swats my hand but follows me.

From "Inside Out and Back Again" by Thanhha Lai

He wasn’t really counting the number of shots he swatted — “one or two” — or lobs he dunked — “like four probably” — in his official Lakers practice debut Tuesday.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 29, 2026

A failed fourth-down attempt for USC would all but end it, as Maiava’s desperation pass was swatted away, along with the Trojans’ hopes.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 27, 2026

The boy, who was not named in the report, swatted the bat off his face, after which his father caught the winged mammal in a pot and released it outside.

From BBC ● Jul. 2, 2026

He chased Fox down in the open court and swatted his shot out of the air.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 11, 2026

The whole greenhouse came to life as vines tangled poxies, gigantic Venus flytraps gulped down demons, and trees swatted the waves of flies filling the air.

From "City of the Plague God" by Sarwat Chadda

With residents already scratching and swatting, it took only a couple of charismatic entomologists to win over the right politicians to move legislation forward.

From Slate ● Aug. 4, 2026

It is the first conviction in Wales of "swatting" - a phenomenon that gets its name because such hoax calls in the US prompt Swat police units to be called in.

From BBC ● Jul. 14, 2026

That’s because his secret superpower isn’t swatting away shots.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 2, 2026

Wolves have been observed swatting the birds away, even appearing to designate a pack member to stand guard.

From Barron's ● Mar. 12, 2026

I walked to the dump, just a block or so from our house, wrinkling my nose as I got close, swatting away flies, and making sure I didn’t step on anything in my nice shoes.

From "Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Changed the World" by Malala Yousafzai

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