swill
Americannoun
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liquid or partly liquid food for animals, especially kitchen refuse given to swine; hogwash.
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kitchen refuse in general; garbage.
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any liquid mess, waste, or refuse; slop.
-
a deep draught of liquor.
-
contemptibly worthless utterance or writing; drivel.
verb (used without object)
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swills,
present (3rd person singular)
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swilled,
past participle, past
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swilling
present participle
verb (used with object)
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swills,
present (3rd person singular)
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swilled,
past participle, past
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swilling
present participle
-
to drink (something) greedily or to excess; guzzle.
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to feed (animals) with swill.
to swill hogs.
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Chiefly British. to wash by rinsing or flooding with water.
verb
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to drink large quantities of (liquid, esp alcoholic drink); guzzle
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to drench or rinse in large amounts of water
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(tr) to feed swill to (pigs, etc)
noun
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wet feed, esp for pigs, consisting of kitchen waste, skimmed milk, etc
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garbage or refuse, esp from a kitchen
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a deep draught of drink, esp beer
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any liquid mess
-
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
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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swillsimple
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swillssimple
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have swilledperfect
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has swilledperfect
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am swillingprogressive
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are swillingprogressive
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is swillingprogressive
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have been swillingperfect progressive
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has been swillingperfect progressive
Past
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swilledsimple
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had swilledperfect
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was swillingprogressive
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were swillingprogressive
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had been swillingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of swill
First recorded before 900; Middle English verb swilen “to wash, swirl,” Old English swilian, swillan
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:
Until then, coffee status was less about the lousy swill in your cup than the place, with its sticky tables and din of philosophical chatter in a haze of cigarette smoke.
From Salon ● Aug. 1, 2022
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
His greasy hair hung in his face, he smelled like swill, and he’d just saved my dog.
From "The Teacher’s Funeral" by Richard Peck
Algal blooms happen when pollution, such as nitrogen and phosphorus from fertilizer, swills with warm water.
From The Guardian ● Jul. 9, 2019
He was taught to make swills in 1988 by John Barker, who has since died.
From BBC ● Jul. 18, 2014
Downstairs in the bowels of the auction house, Zachariah Onditi slurps, swills and spits rows of amber liquids in his laboratory with the practiced methodology of a wine master.
From Time ● Jan. 8, 2013
Photograph: Sarah Lee The wicked world of the internet, of course, swills with bile as well as blessedly free information.
From The Guardian ● Sep. 4, 2010
Not that Grim ever swills anything stronger than root beer.
From "Freak The Mighty" by Rodman Philbrick
Also at the fanzone, Kelly Wood, 39, from North Shields, was wearing a plastic poncho and said she had been swilled with beer when the goals went in.
From BBC ● Mar. 16, 2025
Attorneys and detectives who swilled martinis at Forlini’s long before its young customers were born dropped by to hug staff members goodbye.
From New York Times ● Apr. 8, 2022
The elites they enriched swilled champagne in the countless cabarets.
From Economist ● Jul. 12, 2018
Yet there it was, being swilled down like Red Bull by athletes who went on to win multiple medals at the Sochi Winter Olympics alone.
From Scientific American ● Dec. 5, 2017
“Seeing as your boy is so young, and El Jefe has been pardoning most minors . . .” He swilled his drink around so the ice tinkled against the glass.
From "In the Time of the Butterflies" by Julia Alvarez
As the speeches ended and the guards, in their Renaissance-style striped uniforms, began inhaling fondue and swilling Swiss wine, he politely bowed out to go home.
From New York Times ● Apr. 27, 2023
Our titular tabby is living a swashbuckler’s life, swilling leche, singing songs, saving towns, raking in the adoration and accolades, when he dies his eighth death, landing him on his ninth, and final, life.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 21, 2022
In its marketing, Patagonia Provisions regrettably echoes the fearmongering of the “clean wine” crowd who would have you believe you’ve been swilling poison all these years.
From Washington Post ● Oct. 28, 2021
I read you were swilling shots of apple cider vinegar.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 22, 2021
Kingfisher Meadows was all rain-stained walls, dripping bird tables, wet gnomes, swilling ponds, and shiny rockeries.
From "Black Swan Green" by David Mitchell
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.
