swimmern.
/ˈswɪmə/, U.S. /ˈswɪmər/ 1. A person (or animal) that swims in the water.
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the world > movement > progressive motion > moving with current of air or water > movement in or on water > [noun] > swimming > swimmer
swimmer1377
water dog1652
swimmist1881
natationist1883
1377 W. Langland Piers Plowman B. xii. 167 Þe swymmere þat is sauf bi so hym-self lyke.
1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomew de Glanville De Proprietatibus Rerum (Bodl.) xiii. xvii Swymmers beþ ofte yperissched in swalowes.
1578 H. Wotton tr. J. Yver Courtlie Controuersie 135 Ye swimmer Leander.
1594 W. Shakespeare Lucrece sig. H3 The other wilde, Like an vnpractiz'd swimmer plunging still, With too much labour drowns for want of skill. View more context for this quotation
1664 J. Dryden Rival Ladies Ded. sig. A3 Like an ill Swimmer, I have willingly staid long in my own Depth.
1810 W. Scott Lady of Lake ii. 94 The swimmer plied each active limb.
1908 Animal Managem. (War Office) 140 The horse is a powerful natural swimmer.
2.
a. An animal that (habitually) swims, or whose structure is adapted for swimming; spec. a bird of the order Natatores, a swimming bird.
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the world > animals > by locomotion > [noun] > that swims
swimmer1399
syringograde1839
the world > animals > birds > defined by habitat > [noun] > aquatic or swimming bird
waterfowla1382
swimmer1399
waterbird1440
naff1553
mudsucker1678
1399 W. Langland Richard Redeles iii. 86 Thanne sighed þe swymmers ffor the swan ffailed.
1599 T. Moffett Silkewormes 44 The whitest Swimmer nature e're begate, Suspition blacke and iealousie defiles.
1630 W. Drummond Flowres of Sion (rev. ed.) 52 The Woods wilde Forragers doe howle and roare, The humid Swimmers dye along the shoare.
1646 Sir T. Browne Pseudodoxia Epidemica v. i. 234 In latirostrous or flat bild birdes, which being generally swimmers, the organ is wisely contriv'd unto the action, and they are framed with fins or oares upon their feet. View more context for this quotation
1718 N. Rowe tr. Lucan Pharsalia ix. 1214 The Swimmer there the crystal stream pollutes.
1835–6 Todd's Cycl. Anat. & Physiol. I. 269/2 The Swimmers [sc. Natatores]..are..recognizable by the structure and position of their oar-like feet.
1872 E. Coues Key to N. Amer. Birds 14 Among swimmers, the body is always more or less depressed, or flattened horizontally.
b. Entomology (a) One of a tribe of spiders ( Araneidæ natantes) which live in water; a swimming spider, water-spider. (b) A swimming beetle of the group Hydradephaga or Hydrocanthari.
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1815 W. Kirby & W. Spence Introd. Entomol. (1818) I. xiii. 427 Walckenaer's Swimmers, the last of his grand tribes of spiders.
3. † b. Farriery. A protuberance on the leg of a horse. Obsolete.
a. The swimming-bladder of a fish. Now dialect.
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the world > animals > fish > parts of fish > [noun] > air bladder or parts of
sound1323
swimmer1579
wind-bladder1594
rete1615
swim1638
air bladder1675
swimming-bladder1713
air duct1744
red body1785
swim-bladder1837
fish-maw1840
fish-sound1879
maw1883
red gland1896
1579 T. Stevens Let. 10 Nov. in R. Hakluyt Princ. Navigations (1589) i. 160 Which combe standeth vpon a thing almost like the swimmer of a fish in colour and bignesse.
1888 F. T. Elworthy W. Somerset Word-bk. Swimmer, the air-bladder of a fish. (Always.) In bloaters this silvery-looking purse is very conspicuous.
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the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > family Equidae (general equines) > body or parts of horse > [noun] > leg > part of or on
shackle-vein1607
swimmer?1726
?1726 Farrier's Dict. (Johnson) The swimmer is situated in the fore legs of a horse, above the knees, and upon the inside..; this part is without hair, and resembles a piece of hard dry horn.
c. A swimming organ of an animal; esp. an anal appendage in certain aquatic insect larvæ. (Cf. swimmeret n.)
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the world > animals > animal body > general parts > [noun] > part for swimming or floating
air bladder1770
swimmer1816
float1832
swimming-bell1861
float-bladder1866
1816 W. Kirby & W. Spence Introd. Entomol. (1818) II. xxii. 295 There are two descriptions of larvæ of Hydrophili, one furnished with swimmers or anal appendages, by means of which they are enabled to swim.
1828 J. Fleming Hist. Brit. Animals 29 In this animal [sc. the sea-cow], the fore-swimmers (fins or paws) are furnished with the rudiments of nails.
d. An appliance for buoying up or supporting something in the water.
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the world > matter > liquid > action or process of floating > [noun] > that which makes flotation possible
floata1450
swimmer1740
1740 G. Smith tr. Laboratory (rev. ed.) App. p. xlvi How to make Water-rockets, Water-brands, Water-cats, Water-ducks, &c. that turn themselves in the Water... Having fix'd a wooden swimmer below the neck, it [sc. the water-brand] is dip'd in wax and pitch, and then it is ready.
4.
a. A thing which floats upon the surface of a liquid; spec. an angler's float; see also quot. 1854.
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the world > food and drink > hunting > fishing > fishing-tackle > float > [noun]
floata1450
quilla1609
swimmera1609
fishing-float1728
trimmer1799
bobber1881
waggler1975
the world > matter > properties of materials > lightness > [noun] > rising due to lightness > buoyancy > that which is buoyant
swimmera1609
swimming1833
a1609 J. Dennys Secrets of Angling (1613) i. xiii. sig. B3 Then take good Corke, so much as shall suffice, For every Line to make his swimmer fit.
1664 J. Evelyn Sylva vii. 24 Let the Nuts be first spread to sweat;..a Moneth being past, plunge them in Water, reject the Swimmers.
1837 T. Carlyle French Revol. II. i. iii. 26 Shall we say, the Revolution-element works itself rarer and rarer; so that only lighter and lighter bodies will float in it; till at last the mere blown-bladder is your only swimmer?
1854 A. E. Baker Gloss. Northants. Words II. 317 Swimmer, a wooden trencher, or two short pieces of flat wood nailed across floating upon a bucket of water to prevent its washing over as it is carried along.
b. Brewing. A vessel containing ice or iced water floating on the wort in a fermenting-tun. (Cf. German schwimmer.)
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the world > food and drink > drink > manufacture of alcoholic drink > brewing > [noun] > vat or vessel for brewing or fermenting > vessel of iced water floating in
swimmer1881
1881 Wershoven Techn. Voc. Eng.-Fr. 263 The fermenting tun, the gyle-tun, la cuve guilloire, the swimmer, le flotteur.
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the world > food and drink > drink > intoxicating liquor > [noun] > amount of drink > brimming
brimmer1663
bumper?1670
swimmer1682
brusher1699
bumper toast1756
bumper dram1818
tip-topper1822
1682 N. O. tr. N. Boileau-Despréaux Lutrin i. 180 [He] takes himself a lusty Beer-bowl brimmer Of Racy Claret, and Commends a Swimmer To the good Company.
1706 Barnes in T. Hearne Remarks & Coll. 18 July (O.H.S.) I. 273 Some Brimmer And Swimmer, Wth Nectar shall flow.
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society > trade and finance > money > medium of exchange or currency > coins collective > false coin > [noun] > a false coin
bad pennyc1400
countera1529
slip1592
black dog1665
swimmer1699
Brummagem1838
sinker1839
smasher1851
wrong 'un1899
wooden nickel1927
wrongo1937
society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > vessels with other specific uses > [noun] > vessel used as prison for thieves
swimmer1819
1699 B. E. New Dict. Canting Crew Swimmer, a Counterfeit (old) Coyn.
1819 J. H. Vaux New Vocab. Flash Lang. in Memoirs II. 217 Swimmer, a guard-ship, or tender; a thief who escapes prosecution, when before a magistrate, on condition of being sent on board the receiving-ship, to serve His Majesty, is said by his palls to be swimmered.
7. slang. A swimming costume. Now (Australian) plural const. singular. Cf. bather n. 3.
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the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > [noun] > for specific purpose > swimming or bathing
bathing-dress1774
bathing-costume?a1832
costume1855
suit1864
bathing-suit1873
cossie1926
swimmer1929
togs1930
Speedo1933
swimsuit1934
bathers1945
bikini1948
bikini1957
monokini1964
tankini1985
burkini2002
1929 Daily Tel. 3 June 7/1 Two coloured swimmer with brassiere attached.
1967 Sunday Truth (Brisbane) 23 July 1/1 Bikini girls at Parliament House..when a parade of new season's swimmers..will be on show.
1978 Courier-Mail (Brisbane) 22 Feb. 1/9 I am not an exhibitionist and if I go swimming on the main beach, I would wear swimmers.
Compounds
swimmer's itch n. Medicine a painful dermatitis caused by the cercaria of certain species of blood flukes, notably Schistosoma mansoni, which penetrate human skin (or mucous membrane) during swimming.
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the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders of visible parts > skin disorders > [noun] > itching diseases > scabies or mange
itcha800
riff1579
psora1585
scrubbado1651
Scotch fiddle1675
scrub1709
scabies1813
acariasis1815
scratch1828
seven-year itch1835
scrub-itch1909
swimmer's itch1928
1928 Minnesota Med. 11 573/1 There has been reported from several lake regions in Minnesota a peculiar type of skin eruption locally called ‘swimmer's’ itch.
1969 Trans. Royal Soc. Trop. Med. & Hygiene 63 557 Visitors to that camp suffered severe swimmer's itch when bathing in one of the rock pools.., and subsequently developed schistosomiasis.
Derivatives
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1819 J. H. Vaux New Vocab. Flash Lang. in Memoirs II. 217 Swimmer, a guard-ship, or tender; a thief who escapes prosecution, when before a magistrate, on condition of being sent on board the receiving-ship, to serve His Majesty, is said by his palls to be swimmered.
Draft additions June 2015
swimmer's ear n. (also swimmers' ear) acute infection of the external ear, typically with Pseudomonas aeruginosa and certain other bacteria, which was originally described in swimmers and is usually painful and itchy; (also) a case of this or ear affected by this.
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1917 Day (New London, Connecticut) 17 Aug. 1/1 A new disease that probably will become known as ‘swimmer's ear’ has appeared among swimmers and bathers along this section of the Long Island sound shore this summer.
1961 Pennsylvania Med. Jrnl. 64 1334/1 The condition known as ‘swimmers' ear’ or ‘fungus ear’ is due to gram-negative bacilli.
2002 J. Krusoe Iceland ii. 41 My swimmer's ear had gotten worse.
Draft additions June 2017
colloquial (originally Australian). Chiefly in plural. A sperm.
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1987 Sydney Morning Herald 2 Feb. 13/4 I would have had my tubes tied but I am fearful his swimmers have done an advanced course on how to get through knots.
1999 Austral. Financial Rev. (Nexis) 26 Nov. (Mag. section) 94 Chemotherapy..will affect sperm count, to the point where there may be no viable swimmers produced at all.
2001 Re: Help. Mother with Son in alt.support.single-parents (Usenet newsgroup) 29 Aug. When a swimmer meets an egg, a baby starts to grow.
2007 N.Y. Mag. 28 May 106/1 If we wanted to consider having a second child.., I might as well go ahead and freeze my swimmers.
2015 Men's Health (Electronic ed.) Mar. 39 90-plus percent of the average guy's swimmers may be too deformed to penetrate the egg.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1919; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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n.1377- to cut down to size
- to cut etc down to size
- to cut etc out of the whole cloth
- to cut etc out of whole cloth
- to cut eyes
- to cut faces
- to cut ice
- to cut ice with someone
- to cut in
- to cut in gobbets
- to cut in pieces
- to cut into gobbets
- to cut it
- to cut it fat
- to cut it fine
- to cut it out
- to cut it too fat
- to cut long thongs of other men's hides
- to cut loose
- to draw by
- to draw by one string
- to draw by the ears
- to draw cut
- to draw cuts
- to draw deep