swath
[ swoth, swawth ]
/ swɒθ, swɔθ /
noun
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.
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Nearby words
Idioms
cut a swath, to make a pretentious display; attract notice: The new doctor cut a swath in the small community.
Also swathe.
Origin of swath
before 900; Middle English; Old English swæth footprint; cognate with German Shwade
Can be confusedswath swathe
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for swath
British Dictionary definitions for swath
swath
swathe (sweɪð)
/ (swɔːθ) /
noun plural swaths (swɔːðz) or swathes
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
Word Origin for swath
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
swath
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.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Idioms and Phrases with swath
swath
see cut a wide swath.
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.