swipe
Americannoun
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swipes
plural
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a swing of the arm, paw, etc., in order to strike someone or something.
He made a swipe at me, but I ducked!
A swipe from the cat could mean an injured eye for your new pup.
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a critical or cutting remark.
Her speech contained a few nasty swipes at the other leading candidate.
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a swift pass of something over a surface or through a slot.
You can debit your checking account with just a swipe of your card.
It’ll take more than a few swipes with a sponge to clean this sink.
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a strong, sweeping blow or stroke.
It only took two swipes with the ax to bring the sapling down.
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a sideswipe.
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a leverlike device for raising or lowering a weight, especially a bucket in a well; sweep.
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Also called rubber. Horse Racing. a person who rubs down horses in a stable; groom.
verb (used with object)
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swipes,
present (3rd person singular)
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swiped,
past participle, past
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swiping
present participle
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Informal. to steal.
He'll swipe anything that isn't nailed down.
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to slide (a magnetic card) quickly through an electronic device that reads data.
Just swipe your credit card if tapping doesn’t work.
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Digital Technology. to move a finger or fingers across an area on (a touchscreen) in order to execute a command.
Swipe the screen upward to unlock your phone.
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to hit, brush, or wipe with a swift, sweeping stroke.
I swiped my face with my sleeve.
verb (used without object)
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swipes,
present (3rd person singular)
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swiped,
past participle, past
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swiping
present participle
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to make a swift, sweeping stroke.
The waiter swiped at our table with a damp cloth.
The giant swiped at the mouse with his boulder-sized fists.
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to slide a magnetic card through an electronic device.
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Digital Technology. to move the fingers across a touchscreen.
Swipe down from the top to find your Favorites.
idioms
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swipe left,
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Digital Technology. to move the fingers to the left on a touchscreen: originally, on some sites, a way to close or dismiss something.
Users of the dating app can swipe left to indicate they are not interested in the photos and move on to the next person.
Tap on the icon and swipe left to begin recording.
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to reject something or someone (often used withon ).
You’ll find nicer apartments than this—swipe left!
Even with a six-figure salary, I think I’d swipe left on that job.
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swipe right,
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Digital Technology. to move the fingers to the right on a touchscreen: originally, on some sites, a way to open, approve, or opt for something.
Swipe right on the profile to send the person a message.
Swipe right to continue.
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to choose in favor of something or someone; approve (often used withon ).
An iced cappuccino on a hot day like today—I’ll swipe right on that!
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verb
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informal to hit hard with a sweeping blow
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slang (tr) to steal
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(tr) to pass a machine-readable card, such as a credit card, debit card, etc, through a machine that electronically interprets the information encoded, usu. in a magnetic strip, on the card
noun
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informal a hard blow
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an unexpected criticism of someone or something while discussing another subject
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Also called: sweep. a type of lever for raising and lowering a weight, such as a bucket in a well
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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swipesimple
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swipessimple
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have swipedperfect
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has swipedperfect
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am swipingprogressive
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are swipingprogressive
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is swipingprogressive
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have been swipingperfect progressive
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has been swipingperfect progressive
Past
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swipedsimple
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had swipedperfect
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was swipingprogressive
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were swipingprogressive
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had been swipingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of swipe
First recorded in 1730–40; cognate with German schweifen; see also sweep 1 ( def. )
Explanation
When you swipe something, you move it in a sweeping motion, like the way you swipe your credit card through a reader. Swipe can also mean "to steal," like when your little sisters swipe the cookies you baked before they cool. You might swipe at the mosquitos buzzing around your head at a summer picnic, or swipe your finger across a touchscreen to sign for a purchase. When used to mean "steal," swipe is a gentle kind of verb: it's not quite "burglarize," but closer to "sneak off with." This newer meaning comes from American prison slang, first appearing in the 1880s.
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.
See Examples For:
Food is more expensive, but so are labor, utilities, insurance and credit card swipe fees — virtually everything required to keep the doors open.
From Salon ● Oct. 7, 2026
Delta CEO Ed Bastian took a swipe at Elon Musk, according to recent reports, in the most recent.
From Barron's ● Sep. 30, 2026
Masood was lbw on review, and Rizwan was leg before having a swipe.
From BBC ● Aug. 30, 2026
A second wave of AI matchmaking startups—including Amata, Known and the forthcoming venture from Hinge founder Justin McLeod—is taking aim at customer swipe fatigue, Molly Reinmann writes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 4, 2026
The ball was still spinning, and I stumbled again just as Ethan, impatient and frustrated, finally came at me and tried to spear his foot in to swipe the ball out for himself.
From "The Book of Unknown Americans" by Cristina Henríquez
Plus, Wall Street’s AI train steams ahead, and China swipes the Driscoll’s secret for growing blueberries.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 15, 2026
This update incentivized lengthy carousels of multi-image posts, especially with some educational content attached that encourages viewer engagement via swipes or saves.
From Slate ● Aug. 28, 2026
But he found himself rationing the meal swipes, starting the semester conservatively and ending with extras, which he used by inviting his friends to come with him.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 9, 2026
"You've only got a few seconds before someone swipes past the message you're trying to deliver".
From BBC ● Jun. 28, 2026
Richard and I figured out a while ago that the more stuff Mom swipes from the office supply closet, the more she’s hating work.
From "When You Reach Me" by Rebecca Stead
They also swiped the company’s patent-protected varieties, a Chinese court has ruled.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 15, 2026
When Tongue went to a sustained bouncer plan, Shakeel swiped successive sixes, then a pull for four to move to 96.
From BBC ● Aug. 30, 2026
I opened the dating app when I landed at O’Hare and swiped on a tall bald guy from Dallas, who was in Chicago for the weekend with his college buddies.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 28, 2026
Shredded rotisserie chicken, swiped with Boursin and tucked into the puff pastry you “always keep in the freezer” in case someone drops by with Champagne?
From Salon ● Jul. 4, 2026
He swiped at his face with the arm of his shirt and turned toward the door.
From "A Boy Called Bat" by Elana K. Arnold
But when Madkaur later came across Hagisufi while swiping through the dating site Plenty of Fish, he reconsidered.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 19, 2026
"People are realising constant swiping isn't actually leading to real-world dates, which only heightens dating fatigue," said Ryan.
From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2026
Tinder and Hinge say they will only implement generative AI in a dating coach capacity, giving users feedback on their profiles and suggestions for conversation starters rather than swiping for them.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 3, 2026
Employees are still coffee badging, the practice of swiping into the office and sticking around long enough to have a cup of coffee before heading out to finish the workday at home or elsewhere.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 30, 2026
Finn bent down and saw that Rocket was lying upside down, his paw swiping up toward a cord plugged into the wall behind the dresser.
From "The Strangers" by Margaret Peterson Haddix
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.
