sward

/swɔːd/US/swɔɹd/

sward noun: earth which grass has grown into the upper layer of; greensward, sod, turf; (countable) a portion of such earth.

Image: U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun (1)

sward (countable and uncountable, plural swards)

(uncountable) Earth which grass has grown into the upper layer of; greensward, sod, turf; (countable) a portion of such earth.
- His eyes he op'nd, and beheld a field, / Part arable and tilth, whereon were Sheaves / New reapt, the other part ſheep-walks and foulds; / Ith' midſt an Altar as the Land-mark ſtood / Ruſtic, of graſſie ſord; […]1667, John Milton, “Book X”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished...
- There is a dale in Ida, lovelier / Than any in old Ionia, beautiful / With emerald slopes of sunny sward, that lean / Above the loud glenriver, which hath worn / A path thro' steepdown granite walls below / Mantled with flowering tendriltwine.1832 December (indicated as 1833), Alfred Tennyson, “Œnone”, in Poems, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, stanza I, page 51
(countable) An expanse of land covered in grass; a lawn or meadow.
- It was not far from the house; but the ground sank into a depression there, and the ridge of it behind shut out everything except just the roof of the tallest hayrick. As one sat on the sward behind the elm, with the back turned on the rick and nothing in front but the tall elms and the oaks in the...1879, R[ichard] J[efferies], “The First Gun”, in The Amateur Poacher, London: Smith, Elder, & Co., […], →OCLC, pages 9–10
- [O]f a sudden the trees began to thin and the sward to spread out onto a broad, green lawn, where five cows lay in the sunshine and droves of black swine wandered unchecked.1891, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “How Strange Things Befell in Minstead Wood”, in The White Company, New York, N.Y.; Boston, Mass.: Thomas Y[oung] Crowell & Company […], →OCLC, page 105
Synonyms:

field
(countable, obsolete) The upper layer of the ground, especially when vegetation is growing on it.
- The roots of the Apple-tree, Olive, and Cypreſſe, lie very ebbe, and creepe hard under the ſourd of the ground.1601, C[aius] Plinius Secundus [i.e., Pliny the Elder], “[Book XVI.] Of the Boughs, Barke, and Roots of Trees.”, in Philemon Holland, transl., The Historie of the World. Commonly Called, The Naturall...
(countable, dialectal, obsolete except UK) The rind of bacon or pork; also, the outer covering or skin of something.

Verb

sward (third-person singular simple present swards, present participle swarding, simple past and past participle swarded)

(transitive) To cover (ground, etc.) with sward.
(intransitive) Of ground, etc.: to be covered with sward; to develop a covering of sward.
- [Land...] will not sward again […]1644, Gabriel Plattes, in a letter in Hartlib's Legacy (1655), page 236
- […] for the ground immediately after corn is many years before it swards, and […]1765, Thomas Hamilton Haddington, A Short Treatise on Forest-trees, page 45

Noun (2)

sward (plural swards)

(Philippines) A homosexual man.

Proper noun capitalized: Sward

Sward (plural Swards)

A surname.

Examples of sward in a sentence

[F]or garden it was called, though consisting but of plots of sward, bordered by fruit trees, and white rose trees not yet in blossom, […]1843, [Edward Bulwer-Lytton], “Earl Warwick, the King-maker”, in The Last of the Barons, volume I, London: Saunders and Otley, […], →OCLC...
Only where George stood was there left a sward as of yore; the great, level, green lawn that served for both the Major's house and his daughter's.1918, Booth Tarkington, chapter XIII, in The Magnificent Ambersons, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, →OCLC, page 197:
... with soil of a similar character, several fields have been laid down and ploughed up again under the old plea that they will not sward.1891, Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, Professional Notes, volume 5, page 256:

Synonyms of sward

field

Forms of sward

Noun
plural	swards
alternative form	swarth
alternative form	swart
alternative form	swerd
Verb
third-person singular present	swards
present participle	swarding
past participle	swarded
past	swarded
Proper noun
plural	Swards

Origin of sward

The noun is derived from Middle English swerd, sward (“rind, skin; leather strap; sod, turf”) [and other forms], from Old English sweard (“rind; skin”), from Proto-Germanic *swarduz (“rind; tough skin; turf”); further etymology unknown. The verb is derived from the noun.

From a blend of sword + pardner.

Words formed from sward

Phrases with sward

green sward

Words that rhyme with sward

40 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about sward

What does sward mean?: Sward means earth which grass has grown into the upper layer of; greensward, sod, turf; (countable) a portion of such earth.
How do you use sward in a sentence?: [F]or garden it was called, though consisting but of plots of sward, bordered by fruit trees, and white rose trees not yet in blossom, […]
What part of speech is sward?: Sward can be a noun, a verb or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce sward?: Sward is pronounced /swɔːd/ (UK).
What is the plural of sward?: The plural of sward is swards.

Words near sward in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: sward (page history and authors); Sward (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: 2026-09-02

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

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