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swinger

[swing-er]
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noun
  1. a person or thing that swings.
  2. Slang. a lively, active, and modern person whose activities are fashionable or trendy.
  3. Slang.
    1. a person who indulges in promiscuous sex.
    2. a person who engages in the exchanging of spouses for sexual activities.
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Origin of swinger

1535–45 for def 1; 1955–60 for def 2; swing1 + -er1

swinge1

[swinj]
verb (used with object), swinged, swinge·ing. British Dialect.
  1. to thrash; punish.
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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
Related formsswing·er [swin-jer] /ˈswɪn dʒər/, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

oddballliberalradicaldissidentseparatistsectaryiconoclastdemonstratorfreakprotesterbeatnikmalcontentmaverickindividualisteccentricdropoutweirdorebeldissenterheretic

Examples from the Web for swingers

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • And with him went the monks and the musicians, and the candle-bearers, and the swingers of censers, and a great company.

British Dictionary definitions for swingers

swinge

verb swinges, swingeing, swinging or swinged
  1. (tr) archaic to beat, flog, or punish
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Word Origin

Old English swengan; related to Old Frisian swenga to drench, Gothic afswaggwjan to cause to sway; see swing

swinger

noun
  1. a person regarded as being modern and lively
  2. a person who swaps sexual partners in a group, esp habitually
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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

Word Origin and History for swingers

swinger

n.

"person who is lively in an unrestrained way," 1965, agent noun from swing (v.). With various other slang senses traceable to 1590s.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper