swimming
Americannoun
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the act of a person or thing that swims.
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the skill or technique of a person who swims.
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the sport of swimming.
adjective
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pertaining to, characterized by, or capable of swimming.
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used in or for swimming.
swimming trunks.
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immersed in or overflowing with water or some other liquid.
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dizzy or giddy.
a swimming head.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of swimming
First recorded before 1000; Middle English; Old English swimmende (adjective). See swim, -ing 2, -ing 1
Explanation
Swimming is an activity that involves moving through the water using your arms and legs. One of the best ways to cool off on a hot summer day is swimming in a cold lake or pool. Swimming is both a casual activity and a serious sport. To you, swimming may involve splashing through the waves or dog-paddling across a public pool. Olympic athletes, on the other hand, swim distances as far as 1500 meters at unbelievable speeds. As an adjective, swimming describes anything that swims or that's used for swimming, like a swimming hole. You can also poetically describe a crying person's eyes as "swimming with tears."
Vocabulary lists containing swimming
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.
It was also seen swimming in a river, and climbing over fences across backyards.
From BBC • Jun. 9, 2026
Sports began for me early, after I saw a photo of my dad boxing in the Navy during World War II. I played all sports—football, basketball, baseball, track and swimming.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 9, 2026
At a nearby beach resort, a high-speed Coast Guard vessel plied the waters for two people still missing after swimming in waters that churned violently as the quake struck.
From Barron's • Jun. 9, 2026
Some octopuses even climbed over the side of the box to reach the location of the projected image rather than swimming around it.
From Science Daily • Jun. 5, 2026
The Shadow Queen was swimming back toward them.
From "The Way to Rio Luna" by Zoraida Cordova
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.
