SWING (swung)

Pronunciation (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does swing mean? 

• SWING (noun)
  The noun SWING has 9 senses:

1. a state of steady vigorous action that is characteristic of an activity
2. mechanical device used as a plaything to support someone swinging back and forth
3. a sweeping blow or stroke
4. changing location by moving back and forth
5. a style of jazz played by big bands popular in the 1930s; flowing rhythms but less complex than later styles of jazz
6. a jaunty rhythm in music
7. the act of swinging a golf club at a golf ball and (usually) hitting it
8. in baseball; a batter's attempt to hit a pitched ball
9. a square dance figure; a pair of dancers join hands and dance around a point between them

  Familiarity information: SWING used as a noun is familiar.

• SWING (verb)
  The verb SWING has 13 senses:

1. move in a curve or arc, usually with the intent of hitting
2. move or walk in a swinging or swaying manner
3. change direction with a swinging motion; turn
4. influence decisively
5. make a big sweeping gesture or movement
6. hang freely
7. hit or aim at with a sweeping arm movement
8. alternate dramatically between high and low values
9. live in a lively, modern, and relaxed style
10. have a certain musical rhythm
11. be a social swinger; socialize a lot
12. play with a subtle and intuitively felt sense of rhythm
13. engage freely in promiscuous sex, often with the husband or wife of one's friends

  Familiarity information: SWING used as a verb is familiar.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SWING (noun)

Sense 1

swing [BACK TO TOP]

Meaning:

A state of steady vigorous action that is characteristic of an activity

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Context examples:

the party went with a swing / it took time to get into the swing of things

Hypernyms ("swing" is a kind of...):

action; activeness; activity (the state of being active)

Sense 2

swing [BACK TO TOP]

Meaning:

Mechanical device used as a plaything to support someone swinging back and forth

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("swing" is a kind of...):

plaything; toy (an artifact designed to be played with)

mechanical device (mechanism consisting of a device that works on mechanical principles)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "swing"):

trapeze (a swing used by circus acrobats)

Holonyms ("swing" is a part of...):

playground (yard consisting of an outdoor area for children's play)

Sense 3

swing [BACK TO TOP]

Meaning:

A sweeping blow or stroke

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Context example:

he took a wild swing at my head

Hypernyms ("swing" is a kind of...):

blow (a powerful stroke with the fist or a weapon)

Sense 4

swing [BACK TO TOP]

Meaning:

Changing location by moving back and forth

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

swinging; vacillation; swing

Hypernyms ("swing" is a kind of...):

motion; move; movement (the act of changing location from one place to another)

Sense 5

swing [BACK TO TOP]

Meaning:

A style of jazz played by big bands popular in the 1930s; flowing rhythms but less complex than later styles of jazz

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

jive; swing music; swing

Hypernyms ("swing" is a kind of...):

jazz (a genre of popular music that originated in New Orleans around 1900 and developed through increasingly complex styles)

Sense 6

swing [BACK TO TOP]

Meaning:

A jaunty rhythm in music

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Synonyms:

lilt; swing

Hypernyms ("swing" is a kind of...):

rhythmicity (the rhythmic property imparted by the accents and relative durations of notes in a piece of music)

Sense 7

swing [BACK TO TOP]

Meaning:

The act of swinging a golf club at a golf ball and (usually) hitting it

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

golf shot; golf stroke; swing

Hypernyms ("swing" is a kind of...):

shot; stroke ((sports) the act of swinging or striking at a ball with a club or racket or bat or cue or hand)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "swing"):

teeoff (the act of hitting a golf ball from the teeing ground at the start of each hole)

shank (a poor golf stroke in which the heel of the club hits the ball)

sclaff (a poor golf stroke in which the club head hits the ground before hitting the ball)

approach; approach shot (a relatively short golf shot intended to put the ball onto the putting green)

putt; putting (hitting a golf ball that is on the green using a putter)

explosion (a golf shot from a bunker that typically moves sand as well as the golf ball)

drive; driving (hitting a golf ball off of a tee with a driver)

draw; hook; hooking (a golf shot that curves to the left for a right-handed golfer)

fade; slice; slicing (a golf shot that curves to the right for a right-handed golfer)

downswing (a swing downward of a golf club)

Sense 8

swing [BACK TO TOP]

Meaning:

In baseball; a batter's attempt to hit a pitched ball

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

baseball swing; swing; cut

Context example:

he took a vicious cut at the ball

Hypernyms ("swing" is a kind of...):

shot; stroke ((sports) the act of swinging or striking at a ball with a club or racket or bat or cue or hand)

Sense 9

swing [BACK TO TOP]

Meaning:

A square dance figure; a pair of dancers join hands and dance around a point between them

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("swing" is a kind of...):

contra danse; contradance; contredanse; country dancing; country-dance (a type of folk dance in which couples are arranged in sets or face one another in a line)

Holonyms ("swing" is a part of...):

square dance; square dancing (American country dancing in which couples form squares)

• SWING (verb)

Sense 1

swing [BACK TO TOP]

Meaning:

Move in a curve or arc, usually with the intent of hitting

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Context examples:

He swung his left fist / swing a bat

Hypernyms (to "swing" is one way to...):

displace; move (cause to move, both in a concrete and in an abstract sense)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "swing"):

wind up (give a preliminary swing to the arm pitching)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sentence example:

The girls swing the wooden sticks

Sense 2

swing [BACK TO TOP]

Meaning:

Move or walk in a swinging or swaying manner

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Synonyms:

sway; swing

Context example:

He swung back

Hypernyms (to "swing" is one way to...):

move back and forth (move in one direction and then into the opposite direction)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "swing"):

waver; weave (sway to and fro)

lash (lash or flick about sharply)

oscillate; vibrate (move or swing from side to side regularly)

brachiate (swing from one hold to the next)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s PP

Sentence example:

The wooden sticks swing

Sense 3

swing [BACK TO TOP]

Meaning:

Change direction with a swinging motion; turn

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Context examples:

swing back / swing forward

Hypernyms (to "swing" is one way to...):

go; locomote; move; travel (change location; move, travel, or proceed)

Sentence frames:

Something is ----ing PP
Somebody ----s PP

Sense 4

swing [BACK TO TOP]

Meaning:

Influence decisively

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Synonyms:

swing over; swing

Context example:

This action swung many votes over to his side

Hypernyms (to "swing" is one way to...):

act upon; influence; work (have and exert influence or effect)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something

Sense 5

swing [BACK TO TOP]

Meaning:

Make a big sweeping gesture or movement

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

swing out; swing; sweep

Hypernyms (to "swing" is one way to...):

handle; wield (handle effectively)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something
Somebody ----s something PP

Sense 6

swing [BACK TO TOP]

Meaning:

Hang freely

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Synonyms:

dangle; swing; drop

Context examples:

the ornaments dangled from the tree / The light dropped from the ceiling

Hypernyms (to "swing" is one way to...):

hang (be suspended or hanging)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "swing"):

droop; loll (hang loosely or laxly)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Something is ----ing PP

Sentence example:

The lights swing from the ceiling

Sense 7

swing [BACK TO TOP]

Meaning:

Hit or aim at with a sweeping arm movement

Classified under:

Verbs of fighting, athletic activities

Context example:

The soccer player began to swing at the referee

Hypernyms (to "swing" is one way to...):

aim; direct; take; take aim; train (aim or direct at; as of blows, weapons, or objects such as photographic equipment)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s PP

Sense 8

swing [BACK TO TOP]

Meaning:

Alternate dramatically between high and low values

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Context examples:

his mood swings / the market is swinging up and down

Hypernyms (to "swing" is one way to...):

change (undergo a change; become different in essence; losing one's or its original nature)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "swing"):

fluctuate; vacillate; waver (move or sway in a rising and falling or wavelike pattern)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Sense 9

swing [BACK TO TOP]

Meaning:

Live in a lively, modern, and relaxed style

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Context example:

The Woodstock generation attempted to swing freely

Hypernyms (to "swing" is one way to...):

live (lead a certain kind of life; live in a certain style)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Sense 10

swing [BACK TO TOP]

Meaning:

Have a certain musical rhythm

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Context example:

The music has to swing

Hypernyms (to "swing" is one way to...):

be (have the quality of being; (copula, used with an adjective or a predicate noun))

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Sense 11

swing [BACK TO TOP]

Meaning:

Be a social swinger; socialize a lot

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Synonyms:

get around; swing

Hypernyms (to "swing" is one way to...):

socialise; socialize (take part in social activities; interact with others)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Sense 12

swing [BACK TO TOP]

Meaning:

Play with a subtle and intuitively felt sense of rhythm

Classified under:

Verbs of sewing, baking, painting, performing

Hypernyms (to "swing" is one way to...):

play (play on an instrument)

Domain category:

music (an artistic form of auditory communication incorporating instrumental or vocal tones in a structured and continuous manner)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Sense 13

swing [BACK TO TOP]

Meaning:

Engage freely in promiscuous sex, often with the husband or wife of one's friends

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Context example:

There were many swinging couples in the 1960's

Hypernyms (to "swing" is one way to...):

fornicate (have sex without being married)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s