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Definition of "swim" []

  • To move through water by means of the limbs, fins, or tail. (verb-intransitive)
  • To move as though gliding through water. (verb-intransitive)
  • To float on water or another liquid. (verb-intransitive)
  • To be covered or flooded with or as if with a liquid: chicken swimming in gravy. (verb-intransitive)
  • To possess a superfluity; abound: After winning the lottery, she was swimming in money. (verb-intransitive)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "swim" in a sentence
  • ""Water," said Tom; "swim -- _swim_ across" (he pointed southward and made the motions of swimming)."
  • "I could not swim; but one of the midshipmen offered to accompany me, stating that I need not be afraid, if I fell overboard, of sinking to the bottom, as if I was giddy, my head, at all events, _would swim_; so"
  • "I did not much like going up the rigging, because I was afraid of turning giddy, and if I fell overboard I could not swim; but one of the midshipmen offered to accompany me, stating that I need not be afraid, if I fell overboard, of sinking to the bottom, as, if I was giddy, my head at all events _would swim_; so I determined to venture."