swig
Americannoun
verb (used with or without object)
noun
verb
Other Word Forms
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.
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
Thomson went to take a swig out of his bottle of bubbly and - doink!
From Washington Times • Sep. 26, 2023
He made sure to first take a swig from a bottle of Pepto-Bismol, a nod to the less-than-pristine water.
From Seattle Times • Sep. 12, 2023
Marcus uncapped his bottled water and took a swig.
From "We Are the Ants" by Shaun David Hutchinson
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.
