swill

[swil]

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noun

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

kitchen refuse in general; garbage.

any liquid mess, waste, or refuse; slop.

a deep draught of liquor.

contemptibly worthless utterance or writing; drivel.

verb (used without object)

to drink greedily or excessively.

verb (used with object)

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

to feed (animals) with swill: to swill hogs.

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

Origin of swill

before 900; Middle English swilen (v.), Old English swilian, swillan

Related formsswill·er, nounun·swilled, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for swill

refuse, trash, slop, rubbish, waste, drench, hogwash, garbage, wash, drink, mash, flood, guzzle, raft, swash, rinse, fill, draff

Examples from the Web for swill

Historical Examples of swill

I'd as soon think of telling the Pope of Rome to empty a pail of swill as I would him.
Cape Cod Stories
Joseph C. Lincoln
Jones, annoyed at the swill tossed about, had turned from him.
The Paliser case
Edgar Saltus
One day I cooked a squash, putting the parings in a swill pail.
Old Rail Fence Corners
Various
The bread I was able to eat, but could not contrive to drink the swill.
My Ten Years' Imprisonment
Silvio Pellico
“Finish your swill, and then we can talk,” said Rawley, carelessly.
Northern Lights
Gilbert Parker

British Dictionary definitions for swill

swill

verb

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

(tr often foll by out) mainly British to drench or rinse in large amounts of water

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

noun

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

garbage or refuse, esp from a kitchen

a deep draught of drink, esp beer

any liquid mess

the act of swilling

Derived Formsswiller, noun

Word Origin for swill

Old English swilian to wash out

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for swill

Old English swilian, swillan "to wash, gargle," with no certain cognates, but probably from Proto-Germanic *sweljanan, related to the root of swallow (v.). Meaning "drink greedily" is from 1530s. Related: Swilled; swilling.

"liquid kitchen refuse fed to pigs," 1550s, from swill (v.).