swine
[ swahyn ]
/ swaɪn /
noun, plural swine.
any stout, cloven-hoofed artiodactyl of the Old World family Suidae, having a thick hide sparsely covered with coarse hair, a disklike snout, and an often short, tasseled tail: now of worldwide distribution and hunted or raised for its meat and other products.Compare hog, pig1, wild boar.
the domestic hog, Sus scrofa.
a coarse, gross, or brutishly sensual person.
a contemptible person.
Nearby words
Origin of swine
before 900; Middle English; Old English swīn; cognate with German Schwein hog, Latin suīnus (adj.) porcine; akin to sow2
Related forms
swine·like, adjectiveDictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for swine
British Dictionary definitions for swine
swine
/ (swaɪn) /
noun
plural swines a coarse or contemptible person
plural swine another name for a pig
Derived Forms
swinelike, adjectiveswinish, adjectiveswinishly, adverbswinishness, nounWord Origin for swine
Old English swīn; related to Old Norse svīn, Gothic swein, Latin suīnus relating to swine
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
Idioms and Phrases with swine
swine
see cast pearls before swine.
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.