'swounds

[zwoundz, zoundz, zwoondz]

interjection

Obsolete.

1. zounds.

swounds

/ zwaʊndz, zaʊndz /

interjection

1. archaic,  less common spellings of zounds

Word History and Origins

Origin of 'swounds¹

First recorded in 1580–90; 's ³ + wound ¹ + -s ³

Example Sentences

“Lo, here weeps Hecuba, here Priam dies, Here manly Hector faints, here Troilus swounds, Here friend by friend in bloody charnel lies, And friend to friend gives unadvisèd wounds, And one man’s lust these many lives confounds; Had doting Priam check’d his son’s desire, Troy had been bright with fame, and not with fire.”

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Over streams and fallen trees, and chinquepin ridges; through bogs and myrtle thickets and miles of grape vines—swounds! but it was hot work!

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"I suppose that's what you've been expecting me to do—faint all over the place—swounds and vapours," she said, laughing faintly.

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No kindly angel whispered to her that she should go in, now, for "swounds and vapours," and thus bolster up the protectiveness that had come to birth within him that night.

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She knew nothing of "swounds and vapours."

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