Word.ws English Dictionary

swaddle

/ˈswɒdəl/US/ˈswɔdəl/

swaddle verb: to bind (a baby) with long narrow strips of cloth.

swaddle: to bind (a baby) with long narrow strips of cloth
Image: Azoreg, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Verb

swaddle (third-person singular simple present swaddles, present participle swaddling, simple past and past participle swaddled)

  1. To bind (a baby) with long narrow strips of cloth.
  2. (archaic) To beat; cudgel.

Noun

swaddle (plural swaddles)

  1. Anything used to swaddle with, such as a cloth or band.
    • They put me in bed in all my swaddles.1711 June 23 (Gregorian calendar), [Joseph Addison; Richard Steele et al.], “TUESDAY, June 13, 1711”, in The Spectator, number 90; republished in Alexander Chalmers, editor, The Spectator; a New...
    • The baby is awake, trying to escape the swaddle I have imprisoned her in.2020, Avni Doshi, Burnt Sugar, Hamish Hamilton, page 207

swaddle meaning in Urdu, Kannada, Arabic and Persian

swaddle in Urdu

کپڑے میں لپیٹنا, پٹی باندھنا

swaddle in Kannada

ಗಟ್ಟಿಯಾಗಿ ಹೊದೆಸು

swaddle in Arabic

to bind a baby
قَمَّطَ qammaṭa

swaddle in Persian

to bind a baby
قنداق کردن qondâq kardan

Examples of swaddle in a sentence

  • The theory, which came to be known as the swaddling hypothesis, was roundly and rightfully mocked.
  • A slice of Sally Lunn, still warm from its swaddling of serviette, is more to her liking.
  • Popular success, academic failure, were confirmed because of the 'swaddling hypothesis'.

All 15 example sentences with swaddle

Forms of swaddle

Verb
third-person singular presentswaddles
present participleswaddling
past participleswaddled
pastswaddled
Noun
pluralswaddles

Past tense of swaddle: swaddled

Origin of swaddle

From Middle English swathlen (“to bind; swaddle”), from Middle English swathel, swethel, from Old English swaþul, swæþel, sweþel, sweoþol (“swaddling cloth”), equivalent to swathe (“to wrap with fabric”) + -le (agent/instrumental suffix), the word then underwent th-stopping (its voiced th became a d). Cognate with Middle Dutch swadel (“swaddling; bandage”), Old High German swedili (“poultice”), Old English sweþian, besweþian (“to wrap; swaddle”).

Words formed from swaddle

Words that rhyme with swaddle

Questions about swaddle

What does swaddle mean?
Swaddle means to bind (a baby) with long narrow strips of cloth.
What is swaddle in Urdu?
Swaddle in Urdu is کپڑے میں لپیٹنا, پٹی باندھنا. See Swaddle meaning in Urdu.
What part of speech is swaddle?
Swaddle can be a verb or a noun.
How do you pronounce swaddle?
Swaddle is pronounced /ˈswɒdəl/ (UK).
What is the past tense of swaddle?
The past tense of swaddle is swaddled.

Words near swaddle in the dictionary

  1. swacking up
  2. swacks
  3. swacks up
  4. swad
  5. swaddies
  6. swaddle
  7. swaddled
  8. swaddled babies orchid
  9. swaddler
  10. swaddlers
  11. swaddles

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: swaddle (page history and authors); swaddle (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); swaddle (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-swaddle.wav.

Cite this entry: “swaddle.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/swaddle. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.