swarfs

Noun (1)

swarf (countable and uncountable, plural swarfs)

1. (uncountable) The waste chips or shavings from an abrasive activity, such as metalworking, a saw cutting wood, or the use of a grindstone or whetstone.
   • Filings of iron, called Swarf, the barrel — — 0 [shillings] 2 [pence]1770, Samuel Baldwin, “The Package Table of Rates Outwards”, in A Survey of the British Customs; Containing the Rates of Merchandize as Established by 12 Car. II. C. 4, 11 Geo. I. C. 7, and Other...

   Synonyms:

   turnings

2. (countable) A particular waste chip or shaving.
   • These swarfs, especially if they are of the tin bronze type, can usually be re-melted, after passing over a magnetic separator, by adding a small percentage to each charge of the alloy issued to the foundry for melting.1940, The Metal Industry: An Illustrated Weekly Journal Dealing with Non-ferrous Metals, volume 56, London: Louis Cassier Company, →OCLC, page 456, column 1

Noun (2)

swarf (plural swarfs)

1. (obsolete) A faint or swoon.
   • And when they had ſo continued feaſting for a ſhort time, they had been ſo ſerved before, and the food was ſo rare and excellent, that they fell into a ſwarf, and cried out, Cant[icle of Canticles] ii. 4, 5. 'He hath brought me into the banqueting-houſe, and his banner over me was love. O ſtay me...1795, John Adamson, The Loss and Recovery of Elect Sinners: With the Difficulty of Their Coming Back Again to Glory. Methodically Held Forth under the Similitude of Captives Ransomed and Returning...

See all 5 meanings of swarf