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:
In came unknown Swede Kim Hellberg, and the humble ex-teacher steered Boro to the top of the Championship by February on the back of six straight wins with eye-catching football.
From BBC ● May 22, 2026
Ludvig Aberg held a three-shot overnight lead, but the Swede, who still led the field by three with nine to play, imploded; his hopes sunk in a couple of the course's many lakes.
From BBC ● Mar. 15, 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
Sweden was the second event of 14 in the calendar and with Monte Carlo winner Oliver Solberg, also in a Toyota, only finishing fourth, Evans moved 13 points clear of the Swede.
From Barron's ● Feb. 15, 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
As illustrative of this, in the Norfolk experiments it was found that the turnip was able to assimilate potash from a soil on which the swede was practically starved.
From Manures and the principles of manuring by Aikman, Charles Morton
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.
