<B>swabby</B> or <B>swabbie, </B>noun, pl. <B>-bies.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (U.S. Slang.) a sailor of enlisted rank; gob. <BR> <I>Ex. He was, after all, the luckiest swabby in Uncle Sam's Navy (Time).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="swabian">
<B>Swabian, </B>adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> of or having to do with Swabia, a former duchy in southwest Germany, or its people. <DD><I>noun </I> a native or inhabitant of Swabia. </DL>
<A NAME="swaddle">
<B>swaddle, </B>verb, <B>-dled,</B> <B>-dling,</B> noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>v.t. </I> <B>1. </B>to wrap (a baby) with long, narrow strips of cloth. <DD><B> 2. </B>to bind (anything) tightly with clothes, bandages, or other wrapping; envelop; swathe. <DD><B> 3. </B>(Figurative.) to restrict the action of (any person or thing); halt or hinder the movement of by or as if by binding or enfolding. <BR> <I>Ex. [His thoughts] have been cramped and twisted and swaddled into lifelessness and deformity (William Hazlitt).</I> <DD><I>noun </I> cloth used for swaddling; swaddling clothes. </DL>
<A NAME="swaddlingclothes">
<B>swaddling clothes,</B> <B>bands,</B> or <B>clouts,</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1a. </B>long, narrow strips of cloth used for wrapping a newborn infant so as to prevent its free movement. <BR> <I>Ex. And she brought forth her first-born son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger (Luke 2:7).</I> <DD><B> b. </B>long clothes for an infant. <DD><B> 2. </B>(Figurative.) <DD><B> a. </B>the earliest period of existence of a person or thing, when movement or action is restricted; infancy. <DD><B> b. </B>the restrictions so imposed. </DL>
<A NAME="swadeshi">
<B>Swadeshi, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> that part of the movement for Indian political autonomy (swaraj) that involved the boycott of foreign, especially British, commodities in favor of those made or processed in India. </DL>
<A NAME="swag">
<B>swag, </B>noun, verb, <B>swagged,</B> <B>swagging.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>(Slang.) <DD><B> a. </B>things stolen; booty; plunder. <BR> <I>Ex. What'll we do with what little swag we've got left? (Mark Twain).</I> <DD><B> b. </B>dishonest gains, especially dishonest political gains. <DD><B> 2. </B>(Australian.) a bundle of personal belongings, especially of a traveler in the bush, a tramp, or a miner. <DD><B> 3. </B>an ornamental festoon of flowers, leaves, or ribbons. <BR> <I>Ex. He got out the stepladder ... and began to unfasten the crepe-paper swags (New Yorker).</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>a swaying or lurching movement. <DD><I>v.i. </I> <B>1. </B>to move unsteadily or heavily from side to side or up and down; sway without control; lurch. <DD><B> 2. </B>to hang loosely or heavily; sag. <BR><I>expr. <B>swag it,</B> </I>(Australian.) to carry one's swag. <BR> <I>Ex. The solitary pedestrian, with the whole of his supplies ... strapped across his shoulders [was] "swagging it" (T. M'Combie).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="swage">
<B>swage, </B>noun, verb, <B>swaged,</B> <B>swaging.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a tool for bending cold metal to the required shape. <DD><B> 2. </B>a die or stamp for shaping metal, as on an anvil or in a press. <DD><B> 3. </B><B>=swage block.</B> <DD><I>v.t. </I> to bend or shape by using a swage. </DL>
<A NAME="swageblock">
<B>swage block,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a heavy iron or steel block with holes and grooves of various sizes, for shaping bolts or other objects. </DL>
<A NAME="swagger">
<B>swagger, </B>verb, noun, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>v.i. </I> <B>1. </B>to walk with a bold, rude, or superior air; strut about or show off in a vain or insolent way. <BR> <I>Ex. The bully swaggered into the schoolyard.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>to boast or brag noisily. <BR> <I>Ex. By swaggering could I never thrive (Shakespeare).</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>to bluster; bluff. <DD><I>v.t. </I> to affect by bluster, especially to bring (into or out of a state) by blustering talk; bluster; bluff. <DD><I>noun </I> the act of swaggering; swaggering way of walking, acting, or speaking. <BR> <I>Ex. The pirate captain moved among his prisoners with a swagger.</I> <DD><I>adj. </I> (Informal.) showily or ostentatiously smart or fashionable. noun <B>swaggerer.</B> adv. <B>swaggeringly.</B> </DL>
<B>swagman, </B>noun, pl. <B>-men.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Australian.) a man who travels with a swag. </DL>
<A NAME="swagsman">
<B>swagsman, </B>noun, pl. <B>-men.</B> <B>=swagman.</B></DL>
<A NAME="swahili">
<B>Swahili, </B>noun, pl. <B>-li</B> or <B>-lis,</B> adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a member of a Bantu people living along the east coast of Africa, from Somalia to Mozambique. <DD><B> 2. </B>their Bantu language, which contains many Arabic and other foreign words, used, by people who speak different languages, in much of eastern Africa and parts of the Congo and as the official language of Tanzania and Kenya. <DD><I>adj. </I> of or having to do with the Swahili or their language. <BR> <I>Ex. Farmers roared ... "Harambee!", a Swahili expression meaning "Let's all push together" (Time).</I> </DL>
<B>swain, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Archaic.) <DD><B> 1. </B>a lover, wooer, or sweetheart, especially in pastoral poetry. <DD><B> 2. </B>a young man who lives in the country; rustic. <BR> <I>Ex. Thus sang the uncouth swain to th'oaks and rills (Milton).</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>a country gallant or lover. </DL>
<A NAME="swainish">
<B>swainish, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>having to do with a swain. <DD><B> 2. </B>resembling a swain; rustic; boorish. noun <B>swainishness.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="swainsonshawk">
<B>Swainson's hawk,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a brownish hawk, often with white throat and abdomen, found in South America and western North America. </DL>
<B>Swainson's warbler,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a warbler of the southeastern United States with olive back and dull whitish breast. </DL>
<A NAME="swakara">
<B>Swakara, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the fur of a lamb of South West Africa, similar to karakul. <DD><B> 2. </B>the lamb, bred from a stock imported originally from Bukhara. </DL>
<A NAME="swale">
<B>swale, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a low, wet piece of land; low place. <BR> <I>Ex. The bear we spotted in a grassy swale was already fattened after his winter sleep (Paul Brooks).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>(Dialect.) a shady place. </DL>
<A NAME="swallow">
<B>swallow</B> (1), verb, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>v.t. </I> <B>1. </B>to take into the stomach through the throat. <BR> <I>Ex. We swallowed all our food and drink.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>(Figurative.) <DD><B> a. </B>to take in completely; absorb. <BR> <I>Ex. Big cities ... don't have the legal authority to easily swallow outlying areas (Wall Street Journal).</I> <DD><B> b. </B>to make away with; cause to disappear completely; engulf. <BR> <I>Ex. The scene was swallowed in a hush (James T. Farrell).</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>(Informal, Figurative.) to believe too easily; accept without question or suspicion; drink in. <BR> <I>Ex. He will swallow any story.</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>(Figurative.) to put up with; take meekly; accept without opposing or resisting; bear. <BR> <I>Ex. I had to swallow the insult. He doesn't give you more than you can swallow and he makes you feel you are part of the team (Harper's).</I> <DD><B> 5. </B>(Figurative.) to keep from expressing; keep back; repress. <BR> <I>Ex. to swallow one's anger. She swallowed her displeasure and smiled.</I> <DD><B> 6. </B>(Figurative.) to take back; retract; recant. <BR> <I>Ex. to swallow words said in anger.</I> <DD><I>v.i. </I> to take food, drink, etc., into the stomach through the throat; perform the act of swallowing. <BR> <I>Ex. I cannot swallow because my throat is so sore.</I> <DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>an act of swallowing; gulp. <BR> <I>Ex. He took the medicine at one swallow.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>an amount swallowed at one time; mouthful. <BR> <I>Ex. There are only about four swallows left in the bottle.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>the capacity for swallowing; appetite. <DD><B> 4. </B>the throat; gullet. <DD><B> 5. </B>(Nautical.) the space between the sheave and the shell in a pulley block, through which the rope is passed. <BR><I>expr. <B>swallow up,</B> <DD><B> a. </B>to take in as if by devouring or absorbing; consume; destroy; engulf. </I> <I>Ex. The waves swallowed up the little boat. Must not all things at last be swallowed up in death? (Benjamin Jowett).</I> <DD><B> b. </B>to absorb or appropriate (a territory or other possession); take for oneself or into oneself. <BR> <I>Ex. The French King ... swallow'd up almost all Flanders (John Evelyn).</I> <DD><B> c. </B>to take up completely. <BR> <I>Ex. The first printing was swallowed up before publication (New Yorker).</I> noun <B>swallower.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="swallow">
<B>swallow</B> (2), noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>any one of a large group of small, swift-flying birds with long, pointed wings and weak feet used only for perching. Swallows are noted for their migrations, in large numbers and over long distances, to avoid cold or find food. Some kinds have deeply forked tails. The bank swallow or sand martin, the barn swallow, the cliff swallow, and the purple martin are some of the kinds in the swallow family. <BR> <I>Ex. Some listen for the first ... swallow, but at least one countryman awaits more eagerly the liquid call of the first quail (London Times).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>any one of certain swifts that resemble swallows, such as the chimney swift (also called the chimney swallow). adj. <B>swallowlike.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="swallowable">
<B>swallowable, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>that can be swallowed. <DD><B> 2. </B>(Figurative.) that can be believed; credible. </DL>
<A NAME="swallowdive">
<B>swallow dive,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Especially British.) a swan dive. </DL>
<A NAME="swallowhole">
<B>swallow hole,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Especially British.) an opening or cavity, common in limestone formations, through which a stream disappears underground; sinkhole. </DL>
