swath
[swoth, swawth]
- the space covered by the stroke of a scythe or the cut of a mowing machine.
- the piece or strip so cut.
- a line or ridge of grass, grain, or the like, cut and thrown together by a scythe or mowing machine.
- a strip, belt, or long and relatively narrow extent of anything.
Show More
- cut a swath, to make a pretentious display; attract notice: The new doctor cut a swath in the small community.
Show More
Also swathe.
Origin of swath
before 900; Middle English; Old English swæth footprint; cognate with German Shwade
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for swath
Contemporary Examples
Still, a 30-something who knows his way around a cufflink is viewed with some suspicion by a swath of the French left.
He spoke of how well the present campaign had done in his home borough, particularly in a swath that he termed West Brooklyn.
A swath of regular military allies have sought postponements or rejected the idea of firing missiles toward Damascus.
In west-central Kansas, up to a fifth of the irrigated farmland along a 100-mile swath of the aquifer has already gone dry.
Why would Kristen choose to cheat with her SWATH director when she had Thor the god of thunder on the same movie set?
Historical Examples
Steel-Blue had cut a swath around him 15 feet deep and five feet wide.
Acid BathVaseleos Garson
Now you can understand the width of the swath he cuts in these parts.
The Rainy Day Railroad WarHolman Day
I devastated a swath of territory fifty miles wide and a hundred miles long.
At Good Old SiwashGeorge Fitch
He is rather excitable and erratic, but he cuts quite a swath here.
Polly the PaganIsabel Anderson
His scythe is one that don't need any grindstun, and his swath is one that must be cut.
Sweet CicelyJosiah Allen's Wife: Marietta Holley
swath
swathe (sweɪð)
- the width of one sweep of a scythe or of the blade of a mowing machine
- the strip cut by either of these in one course
- the quantity of cut grass, hay, or similar crop left in one course of such mowing
- a long narrow strip or belt
Show More
Word Origin
Old English swæth; related to Old Norse svath smooth patch
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for swath
n.
Old English swæð, swaðu "track, trace, band," from Proto-Germanic *swathan, *swatho (cf. Old Frisian swethe "boundary made by a scythe," Middle Dutch swade, German Schwad "a row of cut grass"); ulterior connections uncertain. Meaning "space covered by the single cut of a scythe" emerged late 15c., and that of "strip, lengthwise extent" is from c.1600.
Show More
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Idioms and Phrases with swath
swath
see cut a wide swath.
Show More
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.