swig
Americannoun
-
swigs
plural
verb (used with or without object)
-
swigs,
present (3rd person singular)
-
swigged,
past participle, past
-
swigging
present participle
noun
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
swigsimple
-
swigssimple
-
have swiggedperfect
-
has swiggedperfect
-
am swiggingprogressive
-
are swiggingprogressive
-
is swiggingprogressive
-
have been swiggingperfect progressive
-
has been swiggingperfect progressive
Past
-
swiggedsimple
-
had swiggedperfect
-
was swiggingprogressive
-
were swiggingprogressive
-
had been swiggingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of swig
First recorded in 1540–50; origin uncertain
Explanation
A swig is a big, fast gulp, like the swig you take from your water bottle after hiking up a hill on a hot summer day. If your dainty friend is delicately sipping her iced tea while you swig yours, you'll definitely be finished first. To swig is to take a big, healthy slurp of a drink. Originally this informal word was associated with alcoholic beverages, but today you can use it for anything you're drinking with gusto. Experts aren't sure where swig comes from, but some guess it's connected to the Old English swelgan, "to swallow."
Vocabulary lists containing swig
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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:
Years later, at the parade celebrating her team’s victory in the 2019 World Cup, Ms. Rapinoe took a big swig of Champagne, threw her arms wide and proclaimed, “I deserve this!”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 4, 2026
I plopped myself into a chair near the front of Gate 18D on Jan. 25 at Sacramento International Airport, taking a final swig of my 32-oz Diet Coke.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 3, 2026
On cue, the camera cut to Rhea Perlman passing her silver flagon to Lisa Ann Walter, who took a swig.
From Salon ● Feb. 25, 2024
He deftly sliced off a thin piece of what looked to be mainly icing to try his cake before taking a swig from his water bottle.
From Washington Times ● May 5, 2023
She landed her sharp glance on Magister Reese for a moment, drank off her ale in one long swig, and was gone.
From "The Midwife's Apprentice" by Karen Cushman
Kilgore leads his cavalry into air battle to the strains of Wagner, taking out combatants in between swigs of coffee.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 17, 2026
But every time someone swigs the raw milk, they’re taking that chance on everyone’s behalf—it’s like buying a lottery ticket for which the prize is a disaster, for everyone.
From Slate ● Dec. 4, 2024
De la Garza acquiesced and the pair shared a quick toast before taking their respective swigs.
From Salon ● Aug. 5, 2024
He lounges in a spartan room in a white tunic, taking swigs from a water bottle as he tells his story on a video call.
From Science Magazine ● Feb. 15, 2023
At the cooling station, I take giant swigs from my water bottle, then wet the bandanna I use to wipe the salt and perspiration off my grimy face.
From "Internment" by Samira Ahmed
The lemon squash, pilfered off the courts at the end of the day and swigged undiluted on the return coach trip, never even made it that far.
From BBC ● Jun. 28, 2023
There was Booty Green, who always came in wearing his Army uniform, and Maalox, an older gent who swigged from a bottle of Maalox to calm his stomach.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 3, 2022
This performance combines imitation and evocation; Dirty’s every gesture—every swigged drink and slinky entrance—is dancerly, in a series that plays like a great piece of work about the quest to achieve freedom of movement.
From The New Yorker ● Nov. 1, 2019
Christine Blasey Ford had swigged cola during her turn earlier that day.
From New York Times ● Sep. 29, 2018
Ms. Willis had her hot chocolate in a jelly jar and Dean swigged from a soup bowl.
From "Caterpillar Summer" by Gillian McDunn
We jumped out of bed and started answering emails and phone calls and swigging coffee, while trying not to wake up our two kids.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2023
The playoffs had arrived, though, and so here came Brady, swigging from an oversized water bottle, designer bag slung around his shoulder, just the right amount of gel holding every hair in place.
From Washington Post ● Jan. 16, 2022
Taurasi made it, though, and for a moment she could revel at the finish line, swigging Champagne, slinging one-liners.
From New York Times ● Aug. 9, 2021
No viral video embodies 2020 more than the TikTok clip of Nathan Apodaca swigging Ocean Spray Cran-Raspberry juice while longboarding as Fleetwood Mac's "Dreams" plays in the background.
From Salon ● Nov. 30, 2020
During one of these interruptions, he saw them standing on the concrete apron out front smoking and talking and swigging bottles of Coca-Cola.
From "The Best of Enemies" by Osha Gray Davidson
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.
