<B>swash</B> (1), verb, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>v.t. </I> <B>1. </B>to dash (water or other liquid) about; splash. <DD><B> 2. </B>to dash water or other liquid upon; souse. <DD><I>v.i. </I> <B>1. </B>to dash with a splashing sound; splash (about, against). <DD><B> 2. </B><B>=swagger.</B> <DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a swashing action or sound. <BR> <I>Ex. the swash of waves against a boat.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>a swagger; swashbuckling. <DD><B> 3. </B>a channel of water through or behind a sandbank. <DD><B> 4. </B>ground under water or over which water washes. </DL>
<A NAME="swash">
<B>swash</B> (2), adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Printing.) <DD><I>adj. </I> having or characterized by ornamental strokesor flourishes. <BR> <I>Ex. swash capitals, swash italics.</I> <DD> See also <B>swash letters.</B> <DD><I>noun </I> an ornamental stroke or flourish on a letter or font. </DL>
<A NAME="swashbuckle">
<B>swashbuckle, </B>verb, <B>-led,</B> <B>-ling,</B> noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>v.i. </I> to swagger in a noisy, blustering, or boasting manner. <BR> <I>Ex. [He] sings and swashbuckles in eighteenth-century costume (Newsweek).</I> <DD><I>v.t. </I> to make by swashbuckling. <BR> <I>Ex. ... dashing soldiers of fortune who swashbuckled their way to legend (Wall Street Journal).</I> <DD><I>noun </I> the act of swashbuckling. </DL>
<A NAME="swashbuckler">
<B>swashbuckler, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a swaggering swordsman, bully, or boaster. <BR> <I>Ex. He had a garrison after his own heart ... guzzling, deep-drinking swashbucklers (Washington Irving).</I> </DL>
<B>swashbuckling, </B>noun, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> swaggering; bullying; boasting. <BR> <I>Ex. political swashbuckling (n.), a swashbuckling swordsman (adj.).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="swasher">
<B>swasher, </B>noun. <B>=swashbuckler.</B></DL>
<A NAME="swashing">
<B>swashing, </B>adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> <B>1. </B>(of water or other liquid) dashing and splashing. <DD><B> 2. </B>swaggering; swashbuckling. <BR> <I>Ex. We'll have a swashing and a martial outside, As many other mannish cowards have (Shakespeare).</I> <DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a dashing or splashing action of water. <BR> <I>Ex. A rising tide creates ... swashings and swirlings and a continuous slapping against the rocky rim of the land (New Yorker).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>(Archaic.) swaggering; ostentatious behavior. </DL>
<A NAME="swashletters">
<B>swash letters,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> letters, especially italic capital letters, of a style characterized by ornamental strokes or flourishes on the top or bottom. </DL>
<A NAME="swashplate">
<B>swashplate, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a rotating circular plate inclined to the plane of its revolution, which gives and receives reciprocal motion to and from other parts of the mechanism. <BR> <I>Ex. A swashplate or like system links the pistons to a central shaft (New Scientist).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="swashy">
<B>swashy, </B>adjective, <B>swashier,</B> <B>swashiest.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> soft and watery; splashy. <BR> <I>Ex. Bulldozers cleared the course in fine style for the reopening last Friday, but ... the footing was still a little swashy (New Yorker).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="swastika">
<B>swastika</B> or <B>swastica, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>an ancient symbol or ornament like a cross with each arm bent in the same way to form a right angle; fylfot. Swastikas were thought in early times to bring good luck. <DD><B> 2. </B>such a figure with arms turning clockwise, used as the official emblem of the Nazi Party and Nazi Germany. </DL>
<A NAME="swat">
<B>swat</B> (1), verb, <B>swatted,</B> <B>swatting,</B> noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Informal.) <DD><I>v.t. </I> to hit sharply or violently. <BR> <I>Ex. to swat a fly, to swat a home run.</I> <DD><I>noun </I> a sharp or violent blow. Also, <B>swot.</B> </DL>
<B>swat</B> (3), verb.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Obsolete.) sweat; a past tense and past participle of <B>sweat.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="swat">
<B>SWAT</B> or <B>S.W.A.T., </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (U.S.) a police unit trained in the use of special weapons and tactics. </DL>
<A NAME="swatch">
<B>swatch, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a sample of cloth or other material. <BR> <I>Ex. a swatch of calico. After picking a model from samples and a fabric from an assortment of swatches ... (New Yorker).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>a specimen of anything. <BR> <I>Ex. Over cocktails and frequent swatches of non-dance music, one can take an eagle's-nest gander at New York (New Yorker).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="swath">
<B>swath, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1a. </B>the space covered by a single cut of a scythe or by one cut of a mowing machine. <DD><B> b. </B>the grass, hay, or standing grain within such a space. <DD><B> c. </B>a row of grass, hay, or grain cut by a scythe or mowing machine. <DD><B> d. </B>something compared to grass, hay, or grain falling before the scythe or mowing machine. <DD><B> 2. </B>(Figurative.) a strip, belt, or lengthwise extent (of something). <BR><I>expr. <B>cut a swath,</B> </I>to make a showy display; attract attention. <BR> <I>Ex. You folks been cuttin' a pretty wide swath here in New York (H. L. Wilson). He wasn't a bad-looking guy, and ... he could cut a swath all togged up (James T. Farrell).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="swathe">
<B>swathe</B> (1), verb, <B>swathed,</B> <B>swathing,</B> noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>v.t. </I> <B>1. </B>to wrap up closely or fully. <BR> <I>Ex. swathed in a blanket.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>to bind, wrap, or bandage. <DD><B> 3. </B>(Figurative.) to envelop or surround like a wrapping; enwrap; enfold. <BR> <I>Ex. White clouds swathed the mountain.</I> <DD><I>noun </I> a wrapping; bandage. </DL>
<A NAME="swathe">
<B>swathe</B> (2), noun. <B>=swath.</B></DL>
<A NAME="swather">
<B>swather</B> (1), noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a device with curved arms extending diagonally backward, fixed to the end of the cutter bar of a reaper or mower to lift up uncut stalks, and throw those that are cut in such a way as to mark a line of separation between the uncut and the cut. </DL>
<A NAME="swather">
<B>swather</B> (2), noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a person who swathes. </DL>
<A NAME="swathing">
<B>swathing, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the act of a person or thing that swathes. <DD><B> 2. </B>that with which something is swathed. <BR> <I>Ex. Lady Frensham has arrived ... by automobile; she appeared in veils and swathings (H. G. Wells).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="swats">
<B>swats, </B>noun pl.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Scottish.) new small beer or ale. </DL>
<A NAME="swatter">
<B>swatter, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Informal.) <DD><B> 1. </B>a person or thing that swats. <DD><B> 2. </B>something to swat with. <BR> <I>Ex. a fly swatter.</I> </DL>
<B>sway, </B>verb, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>v.i. </I> <B>1. </B>to swing back and forth; swing from side to side or to one side. <BR> <I>Ex. She swayed and fell in a faint. Branches sway in the wind. The pail swayed in his hands as he ran.</I> (SYN) wave, fluctuate, oscillate. <DD><B> 2. </B>to bend or move to one side or downward; turn aside; lean. <BR> <I>Ex. The horse swayed left at the crossroads.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>(Figurative.) to change in opinion, feeling, or the like; vacillate. <DD><B> 4. </B>(Figurative.) to have control; rule; govern. <BR> <I>Ex. Where still doth sway the triple tyrant (Milton).</I> <DD><I>v.t. </I> <B>1. </B>to make move; cause to sway. <BR> <I>Ex. The wind sways the tall grass.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>to cause to incline or bend down on one side. <DD><B> 3. </B>(Figurative.) to cause to change in opinion or feeling. <BR> <I>Ex. Nothing could sway her after she had made up her mind.</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>(Figurative.) to cause to be inclined to one side, party, argument, opinion, or the like; influence. <BR> <I>Ex. to try to sway an election with bribery. The speaker's words swayed his audience. ... an enormously popular man with a quite remarkable ability to sway and lead the masses (Harper's).</I> <DD><B> 5. </B>(Figurative.) to have control of; direct; govern. <BR> <I>Ex. The will of man is by his reason sway'd (Shakespeare).</I> <DD><B> 6. </B>(Archaic.) to rule, as a sovereign. <DD><B> 7. </B>to wield as an emblem of sovereignty. <BR> <I>Ex. to sway the scepter.</I> <DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>the action of swaying; swinging back and forth or from side to side. <BR> <I>Ex. The sway of the pail caused some milk to spill out. Regardless of the sweeping whirlwind's sway (Thomas Gray).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>(Figurative.) influence, control, or rule. <BR> <I>Ex. Few countries are now under the sway of kings. They bent before the sway of his vehement and impetuous will (John F. Kirk).</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>sway up,</B> </I>(Nautical.) to raise or set aloft (a yard, topmast, or the like). <BR> <I>Ex. Forward there, Jacob, and sway up the mast (Frederick Marryat).</I> noun <B>swayer.</B> adv. <B>swayingly.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="swayback">
<B>swayback</B> or <B>sway-back, </B>adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> <B>=sway-backed.</B> <DD><I>noun </I> an exaggerated sag or downward curvature of the spinal column of an animal, especially of a horse. </DL>
<A NAME="swaybacked">
<B>sway-backed</B> or <B>swaybacked, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1a. </B>having the back sagged or hollowed to an unusual degree. <BR> <I>Ex. a sway-backed horse.</I> <DD><B> b. </B>strained in the back, as by overwork. <DD><B> 2. </B>that sags in the middle, especially through age or lack of care. <BR> <I>Ex. a sway-backed old wagon or barn.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="swaybrace">
<B>sway brace,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a diagonal brace used on a tower, bridge, or other structure, to resist side or swaying strains. </DL>
