swivel
/ˈswɪvəl/
swivel noun: a piece, such as a ring or hook, attached to another piece by a pin, in such a manner as to permit rotation about the pin as an axis.
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Noun
swivel (countable and uncountable, plural swivels)
- A piece, such as a ring or hook, attached to another piece by a pin, in such a manner as to permit rotation about the pin as an axis.
- The patter of feet, and clatter of strap and swivel, seemed to swell into a bewildering din, but they were almost upon the fielato offices, where the carretera entered the town, before a rifle flashed.1907 January, Harold Bindloss, chapter 7, in The Dust of Conflict, 1st Canadian edition, Toronto, Ont.: McLeod & Allen, →OCLC
- A small piece of ordnance, turning on a point or swivel; called also swivel gun.
- [The settlement] was entirely surrounded by a broad unfordable marsh or swamp, which prevented all communication, except by private paths under water, known only to the rebels, and before which Baron had placed loaded swivels […]1796, John Stedman, chapter 4, in Narrative of a Five Years’ Expedition,, volume 1, London: J. Johnson, page 81
- Applied to guns mounted upon the cartridges were fired without being tripods, stands, swivels, or carriages1881, Thomas Wilhelm, A Military Dictionary and Gazetteer
- Strength of mind or character that enables one to overcome adversity; confidence; force of will.
- Bob ain't got no swivel.
- The act of swivelling.
- A rotating of the hips.
- A small, usually ball- or barrel-shaped device used in angling to connect sections of fishing lines, consisting of two rings linked via a thrust bearing pivot joint.
Verb
swivel (third-person singular simple present swivels, present participle (US) swiveling or (UK) swivelling, simple past and past participle (US) swiveled or (UK) swivelled)
- To swing or turn, as on a pin or pivot.
- As expected, Swansea began the game with some patient passing and the first chance fell to striker Michu in the fourth minute when he controlled a cross by Jonjo Shelvey and swivelled in the penalty box, only to fire over the bar.2013 November 3, Delme Parfitt, “Cardiff City 1 - 0 Swansea City: Steven Caulker heads Bluebirds to South Wales derby win”, in Wales Online
swivel meaning in Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada and Gujarati
swivel in Tamil
- சுழல்பொருத்து, சுழலி, திரும்பக் கூடிய, சுழல் வளையம்
swivel in Malayalam
- rotate, turn, revolve
- തിരിക്കുറ്റിമേൽ തിരിയുക, തിരിയാണിയിൽ കറങ്ങുക, ചുറ്റുക, ചുറ്റിത്തിരിയുക, തിരിയുക, കറങ്ങുക
swivel in Kannada
- ತಿರುಪುಕೊಂಡಿ
swivel in Gujarati
- સ્વિવલ કરો, સ્વિવલ
Examples of swivel in a sentence
- A gooseneck lamp can be swiveled around an object, allowing a good examination of all its surfaces.
- Then I pull George in with me and two cameras swivel over to film us.
- Anglers often ask me about the correct way to use a swivel, snap, or a snap-swivel.
Forms of swivel
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | swivels |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | swivels |
| present participle US | swiveling |
| present participle UK | swivelling |
| past participle US | swiveled |
| past US | swiveled |
| past participle UK | swivelled |
| past UK | swivelled |
Origin of swivel
From Middle English swyvel, swivel, from a derivative of Old English swīfan (“to revolve”), + -el, an instrumental suffix, equivalent to swive + -el.
Words formed from swivel
- swivelable
- unswivel
- keep one's head on a swivel
- snap swivel
- swivel bridge
- swivel chair
- swivel-chair
- swivel chary
- swivel eye
- swivel-eyed
- swivel gun
- swivel-hipped
- swivel hoe
- swivel hook
- swivel joint
- swivel knife
- swivelly
- swivel phone
Phrases with swivel
Words that rhyme with swivel
Questions about swivel
- What does swivel mean?
- Swivel means a piece, such as a ring or hook, attached to another piece by a pin, in such a manner as to permit rotation about the pin as an axis.
- What is swivel in Tamil?
- Swivel in Tamil is சுழல்பொருத்து, சுழலி, திரும்பக் கூடிய. See Swivel meaning in Tamil.
- What part of speech is swivel?
- Swivel can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce swivel?
- Swivel is pronounced /ˈswɪvəl/.
- What is the plural of swivel?
- The plural of swivel is swivels.
Words near swivel in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: swivel (page history and authors); swivel (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); swivel (Olam, E.K. Kurup corpus) (dataset and license); swivel (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); swivel (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). 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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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-swivel.ogg.
Cite this entry: “swivel.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/swivel. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.