SWIM | Meaning In The Cambridge English Dictionary

Meaning of swim in English swimverb uk /swɪm/ us /swɪm/ present participle swimming | past tense swam | past participle swum

swim verb (MOVE IN WATER)

Add to word list Add to word list A1 [ I or T ] to move through water by moving the body or parts of the body: go swimming We spent the day on the beach but it was too cold to go swimming.swim (across) Her ambition is to swim (across) the English Channel. I swam two miles this morning.  be swimming in/with something disapproving If food is swimming in/with a liquid, it has too much of that liquid in it or on it: The salad was swimming in oil. See more

• I used to swim twice a week, but I seem to have got out of the habit recently.
• We want clean rivers and lakes, where you can swim without risk to your health.
• He used to swim for his country when he was younger.
• Who was the first person to swim the English Channel?
• We swam ashore.

Swimming

• anchor leg
• anchorman
• aquatics
• artistic swimming
• back dive
• bodysurf
• crawl
• diver
• doggy paddle
• lido
• non-swimmer
• noodle
• outswim
• paddle
• paddling pool
• pool slide
• post-dive
• sidestroke
• tuck
• wild swimming

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Movement on or through water

swim verb (SEEM TO MOVE)

[ I ] (of an object) to seem to move around: Getting up too suddenly made the room swim before her eyes. [ I ] If your head swims, you feel confused and are unable to think or see clearly: head swims After the second or third drink, my head began to swim. Revolving, rotating and spinning

• around
• around and around idiom
• backspin
• birl
• centrifugal
• pivot
• reel
• revolving
• rotary
• rotate
• rotation
• rotational
• spin
• spiral
• swivel
• swizzle
• twirl
• twirling
• twirly
• windmill

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Headaches & dizziness swimnoun [ S ] uk /swɪm/ us /swɪm/ A2 a time when you swim: go for/have a swim Let's go for/have a swim this afternoon.   Johner Images/GettyImages

• We went for a swim to cool off.
• I had a quick swim and then got changed.

Movement on or through water

• buoyantly
• cast
• cast someone adrift idiom
• dabble
• dip in something
• float
• hydroplane
• outsail
• paddle
• paddler
• row
• sail
• slingshot
• smoothness
• surface
• tack
• wade
• wallow

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Swimming

Related words

swimmer swimming (Definition of swim from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

swim | American Dictionary

swimverb [ I/T ] us /swɪm/ present participle swimming | past tense swam us/swæm/ | past participle swum us/swʌm/ Add to word list Add to word list to move through water by moving parts of the body: [ I ] He jumped in the river and swam. [ T ] Gertrude Ederle was the first woman to swim the English Channel.

swim

noun [ C ] us /swɪm/ Let’s go for a swim this afternoon.

swimmer

noun [ C ] us /ˈswɪm·ər/ Katy is a good swimmer.

swimming

noun [ U ] us /ˈswɪm·ɪŋ/ Swimming is excellent exercise.

Idiom

be swimming in something (Definition of swim from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

Examples of swim

swim Effects of maternal stress during pregnancy on forced swimming test behavior of the offspring. From the Cambridge English Corpus This usually leaves the remaining swans swimming innocently and mutely in the early dawn light of a new era, leaving only a tragic legend behind. From the Cambridge English Corpus The increase in corticosterone in response to swim stress (water maze) is transient and returns to baseline after 1 hour. From the Cambridge English Corpus Evidence for snail infection by free swimming miracidia was implied by the finding of empty worm egg casings. From the Cambridge English Corpus In one experiment, swimming through one aperture produced a mirror image and swimming through the other produced food. From the Cambridge English Corpus We allowed fish to swim through either of two apertures. From the Cambridge English Corpus Guidelines for cleaning swimming pool inflatables need to be developed. From the Cambridge English Corpus Gardening, too, was a favourite hobby, but neither swimming nor bicycling were as popular as might be expected. From the Cambridge English Corpus The test tube was allowed to stand for 7 min to allow actively motile spermatozoa to swim up into the medium. From the Cambridge English Corpus Consider for example defaults concerning primary means of locomotion: "animals normally walk", "birds normally fly", "penguins normally swim". From the Cambridge English Corpus You can literally dive in and swim into the view. From the Cambridge English Corpus He swims with the current : my struggle is to turn it. From the Cambridge English Corpus On land, a mouse or rat would immediately remove such an occluder, but they tolerate it while swimming. From the Cambridge English Corpus No animal exhibited any change in swimming behavior after injection. From the Cambridge English Corpus Literature is not something a writer gives to a reader but rather the element in which both swim. From the Cambridge English Corpus See all examples of swim These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors. What is the pronunciation of swim?

Translations of swim

in Chinese (Traditional) 在水中移動, 游泳，游水, 好像在動… See more in Chinese (Simplified) 在水中移动, 游泳，游水, 好像在动… See more in Spanish nadar, baño, nado [masculine… See more in Portuguese nadar, sessão de natação, banho… See more in Marathi in Japanese in Turkish in French in Catalan in Dutch in Tamil in Hindi in Gujarati in Danish in Swedish in Malay in German in Norwegian in Urdu in Ukrainian in Telugu in Bengali in Czech in Indonesian in Thai in Vietnamese in Polish in Korean in Italian पोहणे, पोहायची वेळ… See more 泳ぐ, 泳いでいる時間, 泳（およ）ぐ… See more yüzmek, başı dönmek, fırıl fırıl dönmek… See more nager, baignade [feminine], tourner… See more nedar, bany… See more zwemmen, duizelen, het zwemmen… See more உடல் அல்லது உடலின் பாகங்களை நகர்த்துவதன் மூலம் நீர் வழியாக செல்ல, நீ நீந்தும் காலம்… See more तैरना, तैराकी… See more તરવું, તરવાનો સમય… See more svømme, køre rundt, svømmetur… See more simma, gå runt, snurra… See more berenang, terasa berpusing… See more schwimmen, das Schwimmen… See more svømme, svømmetur [masculine], dra ut og svømme… See more تیرنا, تیراکی کرنا, تیراکی… See more плавати, пливти, перепливати… See more ఈత/తేరడం… See more সাঁতার কাটা, শরীর বা শরীরের অংশগুলিকে নড়াচড়া করে জলের মধ্যে চলা, একটি সময় যখন আপনি সাঁতার কাটেন… See more plavat, (pře)plavat, motat se… See more berenang, berombak-ombak, renang… See more ว่ายน้ำ, แข่งขันว่ายน้ำ, เวียนศีรษะ… See more bơi, lướt nhanh, trông như đang quay tít… See more pływać, płynąć, kręcić się… See more 수영하다, 수영 하는 시간… See more nuotare, nuotata, girare… See more Need a translator?

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swig swill swilled swilling swim swim bladder swim fin swim shorts swim-up {{#randomImageQuizHook.filename}} {{#randomImageQuizHook.isQuiz}} Test your vocabulary with our fun image quizzes Try a quiz now {{/randomImageQuizHook.isQuiz}} {{^randomImageQuizHook.isQuiz}} {{/randomImageQuizHook.isQuiz}} {{/randomImageQuizHook.filename}}

More meanings of swim

• swim-up
• swim fin
• swim shorts
• swim bladder
• swim-up bar
• be swimming in something idiom
• sink or swim idiom

See all meanings

• be swimming in something idiom
• sink or swim idiom
• go/swim with the tide idiom
• go/swim against the tide idiom

See all idioms and phrases

Word of the Day

self-deprecating

UK /ˌselfˈdep.rə.keɪ.tɪŋ/ US /ˌselfˈdep.rə.keɪ.t̬ɪŋ/

trying to make yourself, your abilities, or your achievements seem less important

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• English   
  • Verb 
    • swim (MOVE IN WATER)
    • be swimming in/with something
    • swim (SEEM TO MOVE)
  Noun
• American   
  • Verb 
    • swim
  • Noun 
    • swim
    • swimmer
    • swimming
• Examples

• Translations
• Grammar
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