swishing

swishing is the present participle and gerund of swish.

Noun

swishing (countable and uncountable, plural swishings)

The sound of fabric or fur moving in the air.
The movement that produces such a sound.
A switching; a beating with twigs or a cane.
- "My wife's diamonds, thank heaven!" cried Sir Benjamin, with the air of a schoolboy who was very well out of a swishing.1914, Ernest Bramah, Max Carrados
The mutual exchange of pre-owned clothes, especially at an organised party.

swish (third-person singular simple present swishes, present participle swishing, simple past and past participle swished)

To make a rustling sound while moving.
- The cane swishes.
(transitive) To flourish with a swishing sound.
- to swish a cane back and forth
(dated, slang, transitive) To flog; to lash.
- After Virginia came the twins, who were usually called "the Star and Stripes", as they were always getting swished.1906, Oscar Wilde, The Canterville Ghost
To make a successful basketball shot that does not touch the rim or backboard.
(slang) To mince or otherwise to behave in an effeminate manner.
- I shall not swish; I'll merely act limp-wristed.
(transitive) To cause a liquid to move around in a container, or in one's mouth.
- Swish the mouthwash around the mouth and between the teeth for one minute.

swishing (comparative more swishing, superlative most swishing)

What does swishing mean?: Swishing means swishy.
What is swishing the present participle and gerund of?: Swishing is the present participle and gerund of swish.
What part of speech is swishing?: Swishing can be an adjective or a noun.

Adapted from Wiktionary: swishing (page history and authors); swish (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

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