swoosh
Americanverb (used without object)
-
swooshes,
present (3rd person singular)
-
swooshed,
past participle, past
-
swooshing
present participle
-
to move with or make a rustling, swirling, or brushing sound.
-
to pour out swiftly.
verb (used with object)
-
swooshes,
present (3rd person singular)
-
swooshed,
past participle, past
-
swooshing
present participle
noun
-
swooshes
plural
verb
noun
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
swooshsimple
-
swooshessimple
-
have swooshedperfect
-
has swooshedperfect
-
am swooshingprogressive
-
are swooshingprogressive
-
is swooshingprogressive
-
have been swooshingperfect progressive
-
has been swooshingperfect progressive
Past
-
swooshedsimple
-
had swooshedperfect
-
was swooshingprogressive
-
were swooshingprogressive
-
had been swooshingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of swoosh
First recorded in 1865–70; imitative
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:
The swoosh may outperform Wall Street’s expectations when it reports fiscal fourth-quarter earnings on June 30.
From Barron's ● Jun. 10, 2026
Ted Walsh, former assistant equipment manager for the San Francisco 49ers, got so good at inking the Nike swoosh that he could draw it in the dark.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 18, 2024
He was also wearing grey and blue trainers "with a fluorescent swoosh," according to police.
From BBC ● Oct. 27, 2023
Travis Scott has his line of Nikes with a backward swoosh.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 9, 2023
I picked up the swoosh of a drag, like a bag or maybe a body.
From "The Marrow Thieves" by Cherie Dimaline
She wore no-nonsense sneakers with pink swooshes and carried two FedEx boxes.
From Salon ● Jul. 28, 2026
Throughout the treatment, there are the sounds of repeated brush swooshes, shampoo lathering and sloshing water.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 21, 2024
The Paralympic logo of three swooshes, known as the Agitos, is stamped on the medals for the Aug. 28-Sept.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 8, 2024
Since debuting a decade ago, the DJ-producer has consistently delivered rough-edge techno full of precisely programmed percussion, synth swooshes and gut-rumbling bass.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 10, 2018
“Nagare-8,” from 1983, is a 32-foot-long paper banner in which two intense graphite stripes frame a row of turpentine-aided swooshes and drips.
From New York Times ● Aug. 31, 2017
French troops marched down the Avenue des Champs-Élysées alongside tanks and armored vehicles as fighter jets swooshed over the Arc de Triomphe.
From Slate ● Jun. 11, 2025
When she swooshed out the doors of the White House after one particularly pointed encounter with Trump, her sunglasses and burnt-orange winter coat were quickly the stuff of social media memes.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 17, 2022
He had similar childhood epiphanies whenever cars swooshed by on the neighboring highway, or when his father flicked on his electric razor.
From Washington Post ● Sep. 11, 2019
Most had swooshed out past New Orleans and around English Turn.
From The New Yorker ● Mar. 25, 2019
The setting sun played hide-and-seek with some purple clouds stretched out along the Jersey City skyline, and a warm summer breeze swooshed in through the open Cadillac windows and made a mess of her hair.
From "Shadowshaper" by Daniel José Older
The skaters drop into the pool one after another — swirling and swooshing around, “carving” and “grinding,” before popping back up — in such tight succession it feels choreographed.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 2, 2025
Mr Gilliver moves towards the camera, swooshing his light sabre before disappearing down the trap door.
From BBC ● Nov. 2, 2024
Giant white bows cascaded, mingling effortlessly with fabric sashes, swooshing around the models and accentuating the sumptuous textures of silk fabrics that invigorated the display.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 23, 2024
Spike Lee showed that by using it to set the tone in “He Got Game,” notably in the gleaming introduction: We see balls swooshing through hoops all over America, from cornfields to city streets.
From New York Times ● Jan. 27, 2023
The ball arched toward the hoop, rotating in space, before swooshing through the rim.
From "The Parker Inheritance" by Varian Johnson
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.
