swathe

¹

[swoth, sweyth]

verb (used with object)

swathed, swathing 

1. to wrap, bind, or swaddle with bands of some material; wrap up closely or fully.

2. to bandage.

3. to enfold or envelop, as wrappings do.

4. to wrap (cloth, rope, etc.) around something.

noun

1. a band of linen or the like in which something is wrapped; wrapping; bandage.

swathe

²

[swoth, sweyth]

noun

1. swath.

swathe

/ sweɪð /

verb

1. to bandage (a wound, limb, etc), esp completely

2. to wrap a band, garment, etc, around, esp so as to cover completely; swaddle

3. to envelop

noun

1. a bandage or wrapping

2. a variant spelling of swath

Other Word Forms

• swathable adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of swathe¹

before 1050; (noun) Middle English; Old English *swæth or *swath (in swathum dative plural); swaddle; (v.) Middle English swathen, late Old English swathian, derivative of the noun; cognate with Old Norse svatha

Word History and Origins

Origin of swathe¹

Old English swathian; related to swæthel swaddling clothes, Old High German swedil, Dutch zwadel; see _swaddle

Example Sentences

It consecrated a swathe of measures, including climate finance and resilience goals, to help those who are least responsible for warming but often hardest hit.

Read more on Barron's

In that film, Keaton’s character is swathed in beachy white-and-beige separates.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Videos circulating online show vast swathes of destruction in the city's main neighbourhoods, including Sheikh Radwan in the north, and Sabra and Zeitoun to the south and east, where entire apartment blocks have been levelled.

Read more on BBC

A priest took the documents and lightly tapped them against the statue, which was swathed in flowers and tucked behind three doorways framed in gold leaf carvings of Hindu gods.

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Next door, in the exhibition centre, there are swathes of empty blue carpet.

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Related Words

• bandage 
• clothe 
• swaddle 
• wrap