intransitive verb
swam, swum, swim′ming- to move through water by movements of the arms and legs, or of flippers, fins, tail, etc.
- to move with a smooth, gliding motion, as though swimming
- to float on the surface of a liquid
- to be covered or saturated with or as with a liquid
- to overflow; be flooded: eyes swimming with tears
- Informal: with in
- to have far too many or far too much: an employer swimming in job applications
- to have too much room, as within an ill-fitting item of apparel: a child swimming in an adult's overcoat
Origin of swim
Middle English swimmen from Old English swimman, akin to German schwimmen from Indo-European base an unverified form swem-, to move vigorously, be in motion from source Welsh chwyfio, to move- to move across (a body of water) by swimming
- to cause to swim or float
- to perform (a specified stroke) in swimming
- the act or motion of swimming
- a period of swimming for sport: a short swim before lunch
- a distance swum or to be swum
- swim bladder
Informal of or for swimming: swim trunks
swim Idioms
in the swim
conforming to the current fashions, or active in the main current of affairs
