swish
[swish]
- to move with or make a sibilant sound, as a slender rod cutting sharply through the air or as small waves washing on the shore.
- to rustle, as silk.
- to move or behave in an exaggeratedly effeminate manner.
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- to flourish, whisk, etc., with a swishing movement or sound: to swish a cane.
- to bring, take, cut, etc., with such a movement or sound: to swish off the tops of plants with a cane.
- to flog or whip.
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- a swishing movement or sound.
- a stock or rod for flogging or a stroke with this.
- Slang: Extremely Disparaging and Offensive. a contemptuous term used to refer to an effeminate male homosexual.
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- Slang: Extremely Disparaging and Offensive. swishy(def 2).
- Chiefly British Informal. stylishly elegant; fashionable.
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Origin of swish
First recorded in 1750–60; imitative
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for swish
Contemporary Examples
SB Nation and their Swish Appeal site do a pretty bang-up job, as well.
Odds are, you expected Jackson to swish all three, but first freebie dribbled off the front of the rim and suddenly, hope renewed!
In Kavala Graha, you use a smaller amount of oil, swish between the teeth, and gargle at the back of the throat.
Caldecott says that if you swish oil for too long, you could accidentally breathe some into your lungs.
Swish it, especially around the cheeks and upper palate, and pull it through your teeth.
Historical Examples
We heard the swish of the boughs, heavy with new snow, and then silence.
The Trail BookMary Austin
Obediently he wheeled to the left, and I caught the swish of his sword as it left the scabbard.
The Suitors of YvonneRaphael Sabatini
His ears, strained to listen, had caught the swish of a woman's gown.
St. Martin's SummerRafael Sabatini
I sprang aft: but in the roar of wind and swish and thud of sea could not hear him.
The Cruise of the Shining LightNorman Duncan
They did as they were bidden, and then the little man said, “Swash, swish!”
Irish Fairy TalesEdmond Leamy
swish
- to move with or make or cause to move with or make a whistling or hissing sound
- (intr) (esp of fabrics) to rustle
- (tr) slang, rare to whip; flog
- (tr foll by off) to cut with a swishing blow
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- a hissing or rustling sound or movement
- a rod for flogging or a blow from such a rod
- US slang an effeminate male homosexual
- a W African building material composed of mortar and mud or laterite, or more recently of cement and earth
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- informal, mainly British fashionable; smart
- US slang effeminate and homosexual
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Word Origin
C18: of imitative origin
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 swish
v.
1756, probably imitative of the sound made by something brushing against or through something. Related: Swished; swishing.
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n.
1820, from swish (v.); sense of "effeminate homosexual" is 1930s in homosexual slang, probably from notion of mincing motion.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper