swathe
1 Americanverb (used with object)
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to wrap, bind, or swaddle with bands of some material; wrap up closely or fully.
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to bandage.
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to enfold or envelop, as wrappings do.
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to wrap (cloth, rope, etc.) around something.
noun
noun
verb
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to bandage (a wound, limb, etc), esp completely
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to wrap a band, garment, etc, around, esp so as to cover completely; swaddle
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to envelop
noun
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a bandage or wrapping
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a variant spelling of swath
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of swathe
before 1050; (noun) Middle English; Old English *swæth or *swath (in swathum dative plural); cf. swaddle; (v.) Middle English swathen, late Old English swathian, derivative of the noun; cognate with Old Norse svatha
Explanation
When you swathe yourself in a blanket, you are wrapping or swaddling yourself up in it. Swathe a baby up and you're creating a little cocoon where she can sleep. Sometimes spelled "swath," swathe is commonly used to talk about how you wrap up a baby in a soft blanket. The verb can also refer to binding a wound with bandages; as a noun, a swathe is a long strip or bandage to protect a wound. Swathe derives from an Old English word, swaþian, which means "to wrap."
Vocabulary lists containing swathe
Comfy Cozy Lingo
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Beowulf
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The Sea of Monsters
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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:
ING joins a swathe of banks that have downsized as part of structural reorganizations, resulting in thousands of job cuts worldwide.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 29, 2026
This 4.5-million-hectare swathe of forest and swamp, under normal conditions, serves as a valuable reservoir for ancient carbon.
From BBC ● Sep. 6, 2026
Millions of Europeans will contemplate the sky in awe on Wednesday as a rare total solar eclipse crosses part of the continent and plunges a swathe of Spain into eerie daytime darkness.
From Barron's ● Aug. 11, 2026
Food producer Taylor Farms is recalling a swathe of its fresh products containing jalapeno peppers after a salmonella outbreak.
From BBC ● Aug. 10, 2026
And left patterned trails of bumpy goose- flesh on his body, like flat chalk on a blackboard, like a swathe of breeze in a paddyfield, like jet streaks in a blue church-sky.
From "The God of Small Things" by Arundhati Roy
Schools were shuttered as smoke swathed the city in Nevada, near the California border, home to around 280,000 people.
From Barron's ● Aug. 24, 2026
One features sunrise-pastel walls and an angelic ceiling mural, and another is swathed in bluish gray and gold marble print paper on the walls and ceiling.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 15, 2025
In that film, Keaton’s character is swathed in beachy white-and-beige separates.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 11, 2025
Photos on social media showed them slouched on plastic chairs, swathed in plastic bags fogged up by their breath.
From BBC ● Oct. 2, 2025
Still far away, forty miles at least, they saw Mount Doom, its feet founded in ashen ruin, its huge cone rising to a great height, where its reeking head was swathed in cloud.
From "The Return of the King" by J.R.R. Tolkien
Becky Hill, up for best dance act, opted for a black outfit which skimmed her upper half while swathing her legs in flowing material.
From BBC ● Mar. 2, 2024
Masi speculates Comet Pons-Brooks’s horseshoe shape may result from shadows cast by the dusty “coma” swathing the object after the outburst.
From Scientific American ● Jul. 26, 2023
A later segment is dedicated to the art nouveau dancer Marie Louise Fuller and her efforts “to disappear inside the rigors and extravagance of her work” by swathing herself in otherworldly costumes.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 20, 2023
A cascade of blonde frames her face, flowing seamlessly into the airy tunics she wears, each a slightly grander version of those swathing her staff.
From Salon ● Aug. 18, 2021
Sleep enveloped him like the swathing mirages that were wrestling with the brilliance of the lagoon.
From "Lord of the Flies" by William Golding
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
