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

swinishly, swink, swinnerton, swinnerton, frank, 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

Word Origin and History for swipe (1 of 2)

swipe

1807, "a driving stroke made with the arms in full swing," perhaps a dialectal variant of sweep (n.), or in part from obsolete swip "a stroke, blow" (c.1200), from Proto-Germanic *swip-, related to Old English swipu "a stick, whip." Other possible sources or influences are Middle English swope "to sweep with broad movements" (in reference to brooms, swords, etc.), from Old English swapan; obsolete swaip "stroke, blow;" or obsolete swape "oar, pole."

Word Origin and History for swipe (1 of 2)

swipe

1825, from swipe (v.). The slang sense of "steal, pilfer" appeared 1885, American English; earliest use in prison jargon:

The blokes in the next cell, little Charley Ames and the Sheeney Kid, they was hot to try it, and swiped enough shoe-lining out of shop No. 5, where they worked, to make us all breeches to the stripes. ["Lippincott's Magazine," vol. 35, June 1885]

Meaning "run a credit card" is 1990s. Related: Swiped; swiper; swiping.

swipe

noun

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

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

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Origin of swipe

Examples from the Web for swipe

British Dictionary definitions for swipe

swipe

verb

noun

Word Origin for swipe

Word Origin and History for swipe (1 of 2)

swipe

Word Origin and History for swipe (1 of 2)

swipe