sword-swallower

British

noun

a performer who simulates the swallowing of swords

"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

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.

He already had dozens, piled in cardboard boxes: a sword-swallower, clutching her sword; a teenager, the outline of a cell phone just visible in her back pocket; two sea nymphs from this year’s Mermaid Parade.

From New York Times • Aug. 4, 2013

Behind that bush stands the bearded lady and over in the cutlery department the sword-swallower is just about to show his guts.

From Time Magazine Archive

With the drama of a sword-swallower, he threw back his head and sank his finger into his mouth.

From "Wringer" by Jerry Spinelli

Delno Fritz was not only an excellent sword-swallower, but a good showman as well.

From The Miracle Mongers, an Exposé by Houdini, Harry

He seemed to himself to be a sword-swallower unable immediately to extract the steel from his body.

From Atlantis by Seltzer, Adele Szold

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023