swim
verb · noun
Simple meaning
Move as if gliding through water.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
swimIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈswɪm
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
verb
Move as if gliding through water
“This snake swims through the soil where it lives.”
intransitive
To move through the water, without touching the bottom; to propel oneself in water by natural means.
Travel through water
“We had to swim for 20 minutes to reach the shore.”
transitive
To traverse (a specific body of water, or a specific distance) by swimming; or, to use a specific swimming stroke; or, to compete in a specific swimming event.
intransitive
To become immersed in, or as if in, or flooded with, or as if with, a liquid
intransitive
To be dizzy or vertiginous; have a giddy sensation; to have, or appear to have, a whirling motion.
“My brain is swimming after the bottle of champagne.”
noun
An act or instance of swimming.
“It was the swimming they enjoyed most.”
A dance or dance move of the 1960s in which the arms are moved in imitation of various swimming strokes, such as freestyle, breaststroke, etc.
The sound, or air bladder, of a fish.
uk
A part of a stream much frequented by fish.
A dizziness; swoon.
figurative
The flow of events; being in the swim of things.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B1 · Intermediate
- Frequency
- Common
- Typical Use
- Everyday English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Move as if gliding through water
Used this way, swim is a common word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
“This snake swims through the soil where it lives.”
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Common
- Connotation
- No strong connotation
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
How It’s Used
The word’s distinct uses, one example each.
Move / travelverb
“This snake swims through the soil where it lives.”
Dizzyverb
“My brain is swimming after the bottle of champagne.”
Act or instancenoun
“It was the swimming they enjoyed most.”
More ways to use swim
- “We had to swim for 20 minutes to reach the shore.”verb
- “This snake swims through the soil where it lives.”verb
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Inflected forms
Grammatical variations of the same word.
The act of swimming.
A trained athlete who participates in swimming meets.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
A swimming competition between two or more teams.
Pool that provides a facility for swimming.
A tight-fitting cap that keeps hair dry while swimming.
Tight fitting garment worn for swimming.
Marine crab with some legs flattened and fringed for swimming.
An athletic competition that involves swimming.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.