SWIM (swam, swimming, swum)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

Irregular inflected forms: swam    , swimming    , swum   

 Dictionary entry overview: What does swim mean? 

• SWIM (noun)
  The noun SWIM has 1 sense:

1. the act of swimming

  Familiarity information: SWIM used as a noun is very rare.

• SWIM (verb)
  The verb SWIM has 5 senses:

1. travel through water

2. be afloat either on or below a liquid surface and not sink to the bottom

3. be dizzy or giddy

4. be covered with or submerged in a liquid

5. move as if gliding through water

  Familiarity information: SWIM used as a verb is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SWIM (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The act of swimming

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

swim; swimming

Context example:

they took a short swim in the pool

Hypernyms ("swim" is a kind of...):

aquatics; water sport (sports that involve bodies of water)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "swim"):

bathe (the act of swimming for pleasure or recreation)

skinny-dip (a naked swim)

dip; plunge (a brief swim in water)

dive; diving (a headlong plunge into water)

floating; natation (the act of someone who floats on the water)

skin-dive; skin diving (underwater swimming without any more breathing equipment than a snorkel)

Derivation:

swim (be afloat either on or below a liquid surface and not sink to the bottom)

swim (travel through water)

• SWIM (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they swim    ... he / she / it swims   
Past simple: swam   
Past participle: swum   
-ing form: swimming   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Travel through water

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Context example:

a big fish was swimming in the tank

Hypernyms (to "swim" is one way to...):

go; locomote; move; travel (change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "swim"):

bathe (swim for pleasure or recreation)

school (swim in or form a large group of fish)

break water; fin (show the fins above the water while swimming)

fin (propel oneself through the water in a finning motion)

paddle (swim like a dog in shallow water)

crawl (swim by doing the crawl)

breaststroke (swim with the face down and extend the arms forward and outward while kicking with the leg)

backstroke (swim on one's back)

dive (swim under water)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s PP

Sentence examples:

These men swim across the river
These men swim the river

Derivation:

swim (the act of swimming)

swimmer (a person who travels through the water by swimming)

swimmer (a trained athlete who participates in swimming meets)

swimming (the act of swimming)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Be afloat either on or below a liquid surface and not sink to the bottom

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Synonyms:

float; swim

Hypernyms (to "swim" is one way to...):

go; locomote; move; travel (change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically)

Verb group:

float (move lightly, as if suspended)

float (set afloat)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "swim"):

buoy (float on the surface of water)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s something

Sentence example:

These cars won't swim

Derivation:

swim (the act of swimming)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Be dizzy or giddy

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Context example:

my brain is swimming after the bottle of champagne

Hypernyms (to "swim" is one way to...):

be (have the quality of being; (copula, used with an adjective or a predicate noun))

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Sense 4

Meaning:

Be covered with or submerged in a liquid

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Synonyms:

drown; swim

Context example:

the meat was swimming in a fatty gravy

Hypernyms (to "swim" is one way to...):

be (have the quality of being; (copula, used with an adjective or a predicate noun))

Sentence frame:

Something is ----ing PP

Sense 5

Meaning:

Move as if gliding through water

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Context example:

this snake swims through the soil where it lives

Hypernyms (to "swim" is one way to...):

go; locomote; move; travel (change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically)

Sentence frame:

Something is ----ing PP

 Context examples 

I saw her lips trembling and the tears swimming up in her eyes.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

He would seize the coat, then, and be in the act of throwing it out, when it would occur to him that it would swim and not sink.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

So on they went, and came to a lake where many many ducks were swimming about.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

The frogs could swim more like unamputated frogs.

(Scientists Help Frogs to Regenerate Their Limbs with Bioreactor Device, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

The researchers also observed that the artificial cells can ‘swim’ in simple ways, similar to the algae Volvox.

(Colour-changing artificial ‘chameleon skin’ powered by nanomachines, University of Cambridge)

He turned over and went down head first, swimming with all his strength and all his will.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

He laughed, when he came to the top of the water, and swam in to shore.

(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)

I waded with what haste I could, and swam in the middle about thirty yards, till I felt ground.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

The webbed feet aid in swimming.

(Labrador Retriever, NCI Thesaurus)

The first tests they used were the tail suspension test and the forced swim tests, which are often used to determine whether or not a compound is an antidepressant.

(New Method for Treating Depression, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)