swill

American  

[swil] / swɪl /

noun

1. liquid or partly liquid food for animals, especially kitchen refuse given to swine; hogwash.

2. kitchen refuse in general; garbage.

3. any liquid mess, waste, or refuse; slop.

4. a deep draught of liquor.

5. contemptibly worthless utterance or writing; drivel.

---

verb (used without object)

1. to drink greedily or excessively.

verb (used with object)

1. to drink (something) greedily or to excess; guzzle.

2. to feed (animals) with swill.

   to swill hogs.

3. Chiefly British. to wash by rinsing or flooding with water.

swill British  

/ swɪl /

verb

1. to drink large quantities of (liquid, esp alcoholic drink); guzzle

2. to drench or rinse in large amounts of water

3. (tr) to feed swill to (pigs, etc)

---

noun

1. wet feed, esp for pigs, consisting of kitchen waste, skimmed milk, etc

2. garbage or refuse, esp from a kitchen

3. a deep draught of drink, esp beer

4. any liquid mess

5. the act of swilling

Usage

What does swill mean? Swill commonly refers to writing, talk, or some other kind of content that’s considered to be pointless, worthless, or to have no value. This figurative sense of the word is used to criticize such things and is based on the original, literal meaning of swill: liquid or partly liquid food for animals, especially kitchen waste fed to pigs. A close synonym for both of these senses of swill is hogwash. Swill is also commonly used to refer to a drink that’s considered disgusting or of poor quality, such as a cheap beer. More generally, it can refer to any garbage, especially liquid or semiliquid food waste. A close synonym for this sense of swill is slop. Swill can also be used as a verb meaning to drink excessively or too quickly—perhaps like a pig at a trough. A close synonym is guzzle. Example: I can’t believe they print this swill, and I can’t believe people pay to read it!

Other Word Forms

• swiller noun
• unswilled adjective

Etymology

Origin of swill

First recorded before 900; Middle English verb swilen “to wash, swirl,” Old English swilian, swillan

Example Sentences

Go all the way back to meat packing or swill milk at the turn of the 20th century; go to the fight against big tobacco.

From Salon • May 2, 2025

He was the ideal man to restore the club’s values, to swill out the toxicity.

From The Guardian • Jan. 18, 2020

Most of us drink somewhere between these ideals, of course, adrift in the sea of swill, the plenitude of plonk that defines supermarket wines.

From Washington Post • Mar. 7, 2019

At the time, American coffee culture was so much diner swill and Maxwell House.

From Washington Times • Jan. 30, 2019

“Bring something for this old lady, hey? Nice stuff. Not the swill these buggers drink.”

From "A Girl Named Disaster" by Nancy Farmer