(intr)to move along in water, etc, by means of movements of the body or parts of the body, esp the arms and legs, or (in the case of fish) tail and fins
(tr)to cover (a distance or stretch of water) in this way
(tr)to compete in (a race) in this way
(intr)to be supported by and on a liquid; float
(tr)to use (a particular stroke) in swimming
(intr)to move smoothly, usually through air or over a surface
(intr)to reel or seem to reelmy head swam; the room swam around me
(intr; often foll by in or with)to be covered or flooded with water or other liquid
(intr often foll by in) to be liberally supplied (with)he's swimming in money
(tr)to cause to float or swim
(tr)to provide (something) with water deep enough to float in
swim against the tideorswim against the streamto resist prevailing opinion
swim with the tideorswim with the streamto conform to prevailing opinion
noun
the act, an instance, or period of swimming
any graceful gliding motion
a condition of dizziness; swoon
a pool in a river good for fishing
in the swiminformalfashionable or active in social or political activities
verbal noun from swim (v.). Swimming hole is from 1867; swimming pool is from 1881.
swim
v.
Old English swimman "to move in or on the water, float" (class III strong verb; past tense swamm, past participle swummen), from Proto-Germanic *swemjanan (cf. Old Saxon and Old High German swimman, Old Norse svimma, Dutch zwemmen, German schwimmen), from PIE root *swem- "to be in motion."
The root is sometimes said to be restricted to Germanic, but possible cognates are Welsh chwyf "motion," Old Irish do-sennaim "I hunt," Lithuanian sundyti "to chase." For the usual Indo-European word, see natatorium. Sense of "reel or move unsteadily" first recorded 1670s; of the head or brain, from 1702. Figurative phrase sink or swim is attested from mid-15c., often with reference to ordeals of suspected witches.
swim
n.
1540s, "the clear part of any liquid" (above the sediment), from swim (v.). Meaning "part of a river or stream frequented by fish" (and hence fishermen) is from 1828, and is probably the source of the figurative meaning "the current of the latest affairs or events" (1869).
