Word.ws English Dictionary

swim-off

swim-off noun: a special swimming race in which the winner gets to compete in the next level of trials (typically the finals), where the competitors have not qualified for the next level by the usual elimination races.

Noun

swim-off (plural swim-offs)

  1. A special swimming race in which the winner gets to compete in the next level of trials (typically the finals), where the competitors have not qualified for the next level by the usual elimination races.
    • If the disqualifications leave a vacancy for the full complement of finalists, swim-offs shall be continued among the disqualified swimmers until a full complement of finalists is assured.1973, Aquatics Guide, with Official Rules and Swimming and Diving Standards
    • The swim-off would be open to any athlete who hadn't competed in the official 200 free. Since the swim-off would be the last event at the Trials, the upshot allowed Mark to enter it without affecting any of his other races.2008, Richard J Foster, Mark Spitz: The Extraordinary Life of an Olympic Champion, →ISBN, page 48
  2. (water polo) The start of a period, in which the two teams try to reach the ball placed in the centre of the pool.
    Synonyms:
    sprint

Synonyms of swim-off

Forms of swim-off

pluralswim-offs
alternative formswimoff
alternative formswim off

Origin of swim-off

From swim + -off.

Questions about swim-off

What does swim-off mean?
Swim-off means a special swimming race in which the winner gets to compete in the next level of trials (typically the finals), where the competitors have not qualified for the next level by the usual elimination races.
What part of speech is swim-off?
Swim-off is a noun.
What is the plural of swim-off?
The plural of swim-off is swim-offs.

Words near swim-off in the dictionary

  1. swim-bladders
  2. swim-in
  3. swim-inner
  4. swim-inners
  5. swim-ins
  6. swim-off
  7. swim-offs
  8. swimathon
  9. swimathons
  10. swimbait
  11. swimbaits

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: swim-off (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.

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