swipe

[ swahyp ]

/ swaɪp /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR swipe ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a strong, sweeping blow, as with a cricket bat or golf club.

Informal. a swing of the arm in order to strike somebody; punch.

a sideswipe.

Informal. a critical or cutting remark.

a leverlike device for raising or lowering a weight, especially a bucket in a well; sweep.

an act or instance of swiping: You can debit your checking account with just a swipe of your card.

Also called rub·ber. Horse Racing. a person who rubs down horses in a stable; groom.

verb (used with object), swiped, swip·ing.

to strike with a sweeping blow.

Informal. to steal: He'll swipe anything that isn't nailed down.

to slide (a magnetic card) quickly through an electronic device that reads data.

Digital Technology. to move a finger or fingers, or a stylus, across an area on (a touchscreen) in order to execute a command: Put your finger on the arrow and swipe the screen to the right to unlock your phone.

verb (used without object), swiped, swip·ing.

to make a sweeping stroke.

to slide a magnetic card through an electronic device.

Digital Technology. to move the fingers across a touchscreen: Swipe to the right to close the article.

Nearby words

swingy, swinish, swink, swinnerton, swinney, swipe, swipe card, swipes, swipple, swirl, swirly

Origin of swipe

1730–40; akin to sweep¹; cognate with German schweifen

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for swipe

Swipe, pass judgment, see who likes you and see if anyone likes you back.
Swipe Right For Sex: Mixxxer Is Tinder for the Porn Star Set|Aurora Snow|October 4, 2014|DAILY BEAST
We are going through and looking for people that we would honestly ‘swipe right’ for.
Grindr and Tinder Help the Holy Land Make Love, Not War|Gideon Resnick|July 23, 2014|DAILY BEAST
“One swipe with a crowbar and he would have been down,” Sasha said.
I Heard About the Latest Crazed Shooter While I Watched the World Cup with Guys He Almost Killed|Daniel Genis|July 1, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The crook then produces a MetroCard of his own and offers to swipe the would-be traveler through—for a premium price.
My Patrol With the NYPD’s Bill Bratton|Michael Daly|March 14, 2014|DAILY BEAST

When Gilmore took a swipe at Rand Paul by name, I feared for his safety.
On CPAC Day 2, the Libertarian Wing Takes Over|Michelle Cottle|March 8, 2014|DAILY BEAST
They say this year Keys is going to shut down on the sporting life and swipe some of the Bones type.
Stover at Yale|Owen Johnson
“He killed the three animal keepers almost at one swipe,” said the man, who proved to be the second mate.
Bert Wilson, Wireless Operator|J. W. Duffield
You make a swipe or two at it with your niblick and only manage to get mud on your face and drive it deeper among the grass roots.
In Pastures Green|Peter McArthur
Still, how was he to know they were going to swipe his idea?
Carl and the Cotton Gin|Sara Ware Bassett
Swipe at the first ball as though you were going to knock it over the fence!
Weatherby's Inning|Ralph Henry Barbour

British Dictionary definitions for swipe

swipe

/ (swaɪp) /

verb

(when intr, usually foll by at) informal to hit hard with a sweeping blow

(tr) slang to steal

(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

informal a hard blow

an unexpected criticism of someone or something while discussing another subject

Also called: sweep a type of lever for raising and lowering a weight, such as a bucket in a well

Word Origin for swipe

C19: perhaps related to sweep

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