swings

Verb

swing (third-person singular simple present swings, present participle swinging, simple past swung or (archaic or dialectal) swang, past participle swung or (archaic or dialectal) swang or (archaic) swungen)

1. (intransitive) To rotate about an off-centre fixed point.
   • The plant swung in the breeze.
2. (intransitive) To dance.
3. (intransitive) To ride on a swing.
   • The children laughed as they swung.
4. (intransitive) To participate in the swinging lifestyle; to participate in wifeswapping.
   • We find it difficult to meet couples our age, and often swing with single, straight men. We have rules: no married guys cheating on their wives, no one too young or too old, and no one who supports Trump.2017 October 13, anonymous author, “My life in sex: ‘We have rules for swinging: no one cheating on their wives, no one who supports Trump’”, in The Guardian, →ISSN, archived from the original on 17...
5. (intransitive) To hang from the gallows; to be punished by hanging, swing for something or someone; (often hyperbolic) to be severely punished.
   • “It's all clear,” he whispered. “Have you the chisel and the bags? Great Scott! Jump, Archie, jump, and I'll swing for it!”
     Sherlock Holmes had sprung out and seized the intruder by the collar. The other dived down the hole, and I heard the sound of rending cloth as Jones clutched at his skirts.1891, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Red-Headed League

   Synonyms:

   dance on a rope, dance on nothing, dance the hempen jig, dance the Tyburn jig, dance upon nothing, dangle, hang, ride a horse foaled by an acorn, stretch hemp, string up

6. (transitive) (of a bowler) To make the ball move sideways in its trajectory.

See all 38 meanings of swing