swinge
1 Americanverb (used with object)
verb (used with object)
verb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of swinge1
1250–1300; Middle English swengen to shake, smite, Old English swengan, causative of swingan to swing, or denominative derivative of Old English sweng a blow
Origin of swinge2
First recorded in 1580–90; obscurely akin to singe
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.
I never heard of but one that did, and he was a little swinge cat.
From The Wit and Humor of America, Volume IV. (of X.) by Wilder, Marshall Pinckney
Uncle Archy, this is Lyman Hall; and for all you see him in these fine clothes, he's a swinge cat; a darn sight cleverer fellow than he looks to be.
From The Wit and Humor of America, Volume IV. (of X.) by Wilder, Marshall Pinckney
Sw imply a silent agitation, or a softer kind of lateral motion; as sway, swag, to sway, swagger, swerve, sweat, sweep, swill, swim, swing, swift, sweet, switch, swinge.
From A Grammar of the English Tongue by Johnson, Samuel
But Starr’s or Ignoramus’s may not give Those Swearers longer swinge by Oaths to live.
From Anti-Achitophel (1682) Three Verse Replies to Absalom and Achitophel by John Dryden by Jones, Harold Whitmore
The young dogs, swinge them to the labour; Let wark an’ hunger mak’ them sober!
From The Complete Works of Robert Burns: Containing his Poems, Songs, and Correspondence. With a New Life of the Poet, and Notices, Critical and Biographical by Allan Cunningham by Burns, Robert
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.
