Swede
noun
a native or inhabitant of Sweden.
Swede
American
[sweed]
/ swid /
noun
-
a native or inhabitant of Sweden.
-
(lowercase) a rutabaga.
swede
1
British
/ swiːd /
noun
-
a Eurasian plant, Brassica napus (or B. napobrassica ), cultivated for its bulbous edible root, which is used as a vegetable and as cattle fodder: family Brassicaceae (crucifers)
-
the root of this plant
-
a slang word for head
Swede
2
British
/ swiːd /
noun
Etymology
Origin of Swede
1580–90; < Middle Dutch or Middle Low German; cognate with German Schwede; compare Old English Swēon (plural), Old Norse Svēar, Svīar, Medieval Latin Suiōnes
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:
He managed just seven more touches in the second half but centre-forwards deal in goals and the Swede timed his run perfectly to meet Cody Gakpo's delivery for his first goal of the season.
From BBC ● Aug. 29, 2026
Lundberg, a Swede who is now retired, quit a prominent job at AstraZeneca in London to take a position at Lilly’s headquarters in Indianapolis.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 5, 2026
The Swede joined in the summer, fresh from leading Denmark at Euro 2025, and has injected more creativity in his side.
From BBC ● May 6, 2026
Her 108 wins all time leads the second-place skier, Swede Ingemar Stenmark, by a wide margin.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 18, 2026
The amiable Swede departed, her kindly face flushed, her eyes suffused with tears.
From "Murder on the Orient Express" by Agatha Christie
In a two-year experiment, about 800 swede plants were grown over 10 generations on different soil types in a greenhouse.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 19, 2024
This is why the following vegetables, which belong to the brassica family, have different tastes: broccoli, cabbage, kale, swede, wasabi, horseradish, turnip, rocket, watercress, cauliflower and mustard.
From Salon ● Dec. 25, 2022
"We have a traditional Christmas dinner: turkey - although I don't like stuffing - potatoes, carrots and swede," he says.
From BBC ● Dec. 23, 2021
This is, perhaps, the reason that it’s sometimes called a Swedish turnip or simply a swede.
From The New Yorker ● Jan. 29, 2019
Does it satisfy you, as a man made in the image of God, to be able to distinguish between a mangold and a swede?
From Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 156, Jan. 8, 1919 by Various
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
