1Move or cause to move back and forth or from side to side while suspended or on an axis.

1. 1.1informal no object Be executed by hanging.
   now he was going to swing for it

   Example sentencesExamples

   • Nobody should get away with planting a bomb in a public place without swinging for it.
   • It wasn't a hanging offence but he swung for it anyway.
   • He will swing for it next week, unless a petition for his life takes effect.
2. 1.2with object Turn (a ship or aircraft) to all compass points in succession, in order to test compass error.
   Example sentencesExamples

   • The Compass Engineer will swing the ship through the major compass points and determine the deviation on each point.
   • Before the ship puts to sea, it is swung through the complete circle from 0° to 360°.
   • Much importance is also attached to the swinging of ships in dock before going to sea.

2no object, with adverbial of direction Move by grasping a support from below and leaping.

1. 2.1 Move quickly round to the opposite direction.
   Ronni had swung round to face him

   Example sentencesExamples

   • The thought causes Julia to grimace for a moment until a figure swings round in front of her.
   • Dan swung round on his chair so quickly he almost fell off.
   • She jumped, shrieking as she quickly swung around to face her addresser.
   • An officer grabbed him and as he swung round, his arm connected with the officer's jaw, she said.
   • I swung around quickly to see Trent riding by with the windows down and stereo blasting.
   • On the final approach to the climb the road turns sharply back on itself and, just when I need it most, the wind which has been in my face all day swings round to assist me.
   • I push the tiller across and as the boat swings round I stand up and move across the boat.
2. 2.2 Move with a rhythmic swaying gait.
   the riflemen swung along smartly

   Example sentencesExamples

   • He whistled and hummed old tunes as he swung along.
   • If your gait swings so that your feet are pointed outward or inward, you may end up with the duck or the pigeon-toed walking styles.
   • Cath got to school at around seven thirty and swung along to the main office.

   Synonyms

   stride, march, sweep

   stroll

   North American informal sashay

3with adverbial of direction Move or cause to move in a smooth, curving line.

1. 3.1with object Bring down (something held) with a curving movement, typically in order to hit an object.
   I swung the club and missed the ball

   Example sentencesExamples

   • He looked at my stiff posture and how I held and swung the club.
   • He first suggested he might skip the Masters in January, when his lower back caused problems swinging the club.
   • Alexander jumped over the club and swung his sword down as he fell down.
   • The more athletic your set-up then the less chance you have of putting strain on your back when you swing the club.
   • Paul now plays using the word rhythm as his only thought when swinging the club, which is fantastic.
   • He swung his club in frustration and hit a spectator's knee.
   • I swung my stick and brought it across my body and made contact with the player's stick and the puck.
   • Often these causes are things you may do before you actually swinging the club, like an incorrect grip and bad posture.
   • Considering that you can also shift your body weight when you swing your clubs, the options to pick a distinctive tee shot are almost infinite.
   • But then, instead of swinging the club back, simply bring it to the halfway position I've described.
   • Another guard, almost fully restored, swung his club at Will, who merely ducked, turned, and stood up.
   • Adopt a similar kind of consistent motion before swinging the club.
   • I've played off and on since my 3 and a half years in Canada, but haven't swung a club for probably 5 years now.
   • It was too late to stop and as my racket was brought down, John swung his racket face up under the high speed shot.
   • ‘I played awful golf on the front nine and have not swung the club as badly for a very long time,’ he admitted.
   • He told me it felt like a weight had been taken off his shoulders and he could actually go and swing the club and enjoy practicing again.
   • To make solid contact, Bob had to turn his left shoulder more horizontally, swinging the club more around his body than up and down.
   • You want to handle it, try a few casts with it, in the way that a golfer wants to swing a new club or a cricketer feels the weight of a bat.
   • In one fluid motion Carlotta swung the torch and clubbed Don Antonio as hard as she could over the head.
   • See the target, swing the club and wait for the applause.
2. 3.2swing atno object Attempt to hit or punch, typically with a wide curving movement of the arm.
   he swung at me with the tyre wrench

   Example sentencesExamples

   • ‘I ran out at him, stood up on the wall and swung at him to thump him,’ said Mr Delker.
   • The publican told the court that he did grab Mrs O'Leary when she tried to hit him, stating he caught her by her wrists when she swung at him.
   • He turned to see a man jogging, but when he tried to cross the road the jogger swung at him with a blunt instrument.
   • The man, missing him, swung at him again, this time just making contact with his waist, causing a very minor injury.
   • The jury heard he had told police on April 16, 2001, that Price swung at him and missed before the pair had a struggle.
   • He ducked as she swung at him then lunged upward, throwing a hard punch at her jaw.
   • The leader swung at him, but Jack stepped around the punch and jammed the knife in the man's spine.
   • And she swung at me again, missed, and smacked herself in the nose.
   • The best case scenario of swinging at a cop is you miss while his head is turned and he doesn't see it.
   • He missed, then swung at him again and hit his waist, but it did not cause any injury.
   • About the earlier incident, he claimed that she swung at him and fell accidentally when he had put his hand up to defend himself.
   • She grumbled, swinging at him, knowing well that he would catch her punch before it even came close to landing.
3. 3.3 Deliver (a punch) with a wide curving movement of the arm.
   she swung a punch at him

   Example sentencesExamples

   • Not sure I believe him, but clearly nobody is expecting me to swing a punch.
   • Are you so proud that you could swing a few punches in a bar full of drunkards?
   • He swung a punch at him but Aidan dodged and pushed him to the ground.
   • I swung a punch at her but she grabbed my fist and kicked me in the side where I had been stabbed.
   • He said the man stood up, confronted Crook and swung a punch at his client, and a scuffle started.
   • Twisting, jumping, ducking; each time he moved he swung a new blow.
   • Elisa swung a punch at his shoulder, and he didn't bother dodging.
   • Marcus swung a vicious blow at Richard's head that would have knocked him out if he hadn't quickly ducked.
   • I sat up, startled, as if someone had come and swung a punch into my stomach.
   • The teenager said he was only acting in self-defence when the youth swung a punch at him.
   • Price gave evidence that Mr Parsons became aggressive and swung a punch at him and all he did afterwards was try to defend himself.
   • He called out with war cries as he swung deadly blows to all who came near him.
   • He swung a final punch at another officer but he was too weak to cause any real severe injuries to him.
   • She swung a powerful blow to the side, stumbling from its momentum.
   • I mean, perhaps the prisoner had himself swung a punch around the corner where you couldn't see it.
   • Daniel swung a punch at Jay, who only blocked it, even though it hurt when it hit his arm.
   • Teera raised her face to him and then swung a full blow with both hands at him, striking him in the jaw and sending him sprawling.
   • He swung a punch at her face causing her to fall and then grabbed her by the coat, dragging her along and spitting at her.
   • Kira turned on heel and toe, swinging a tremendous blow and striking the other man square in the back.
   • He was getting up, and was just about to swing a punch at her.
4. 3.4Cricket with object (of a bowler) make a delivery of (a ball) deviate sideways from a regular course in the air.
   Example sentencesExamples

   • Hall brings to the side a rare commodity in South African cricket - an ability to swing the ball away from the right-handed batsman.
   • He swings the ball enough to trouble batsmen, but not enough to be a force when the pitch is slow and the ball is holding up.
   • Martin does not struggle to swing the ball but often battles to maintain a demanding line.
   • He bowled very fast and swung the ball even on this pitch.
   • He can swing the ball late and is nippy enough to worry batsmen on a track that has pace and bounce.
   • His pace, coupled with the ability to swing the ball, make it difficult to play against him.
   • Nehra is one bowler who has the ability to swing the ball both ways and to have sacrificed him to play an extra batsman was a big mistake.
   • Driver, however, stemmed the early onslaught with three cheap wickets and kept nagging away, swinging the ball both ways.
   • McGrath is swinging the ball into the right-handers and causing them a great deal of trouble.
   • Kirtley was the most dangerous, swinging the ball considerably, and forcing the batsmen to play.
   • In the one day arena, few bowlers swing the ball away from the right-hander for fear of bowling wides.
   • It doesn't allow him to prodigiously swing the ball but it allows him to land the ball on the seam time and time again.
   • In fact I'd go so far as to say that one of the reasons Lee looks so good at the moment is becuase he's consistantly swinging the ball and doing it at serious pace.
   • In this series the pressure has been put on the Aussies by bowlers continuing to improve on their ability to swing the ball.
   • A left-arm paceman operating over the wicket is expected to angle or swing the ball across the right-hander.
   • Sure enough, Bangladesh were soon in trouble as Sri Lanka's fast bowlers swung the new ball, grabbing three quick wickets after the tea interval.
   • He was a dangerous bowler who could swing the ball both ways and in 21 Test matches took 78 wickets costing 27.13 per wicket.
   • We've noticed he's been swinging the ball away from the bat quite a lot all the time.
   • The new ball bowlers cannot, it seems, swing the ball; the slow bowlers can hardly spin it.
   • And in the early part of his career before his back trouble, Botham was a genuine strike bowler who could swing the ball both ways.
5. 3.5Cricket no object (of a delivery) deviate sideways from a regular course.
   Example sentencesExamples

   • The ball did not swing, as it had done in the Trent Bridge Test, and he could have done with more pace and bounce in this pitch.
   • One ball swung away in the air and was at least a couple of feet outside Viswanath's off stump before it started curling in.
   • When we play on a wicket and the ball swings around we have bowlers and batsmen who can cope with that.
   • The ball swung for most of the England innings, making life far from straightforward, but few players seemed prepared to graft it out.
   • I was getting the ball to swing in to him at high speed, and had a couple of good lbw shouts.
   • Whenever, they bowled the ball was swinging around every corner.
   • India started off very slowly, mainly because the ball was swinging and seaming around on a damp pitch early in the morning.
   • Barring any major lbw- or bouncer-rule changes, there is one option: changing the composition of cricket balls so they swing or bounce or spin more.
   • The pitch had spent two days under the covers, but the conditions did not phase the Australia openers as they left balls that were swinging wildly.
   • The Pakistani batsmen are in a habit of playing at balls swinging away from the body.
   • In most cases, it was the balls that swung in to the right-handed batsmen that did the damage and there isn't a better exponent of that delivery than Vaas.
   • By the time it was our turn to field, the conditions were more favourable for bowling, the ball was swinging and Botham took a couple of wonderful catches.
   • The ball will swing for most of the innings, in fact prodigiously in the first few overs.
   • Yovich was next to go, bowled for four by a beauty that clipped the top of off stump as it swung away from him.

4Shift or cause to shift from one opinion, mood, or state of affairs to another.

1. 4.1with object Have a decisive influence on (something, especially a vote or election)
   an attempt to swing the vote in their favour

   Example sentencesExamples

   • Will they swing the election in your favour again?
   • You only need a few percentage points difference to swing an election.
   • With the election so finely balanced, deceased early voters could yet swing the election, without the arduous duty of having to stick around for the legal disputes.
   • According to intelligence sources, the army is now determined to swing the balance of power back in its favor.
   • Today cognitive scientists pre-test messages and images with focus groups comprising types of voters who might swing an election.
   • Young people have the potential to swing the election one way or the other.
   • Although on different teams, they are examples of a nationwide movement that some experts predict could swing the election.
   • And he thinks parochial issues such as veterans' benefits won't swing the election.
   • Well, it's rare that a vice president swung an election one way or the other.
   • The only real question at this point is if they have been successful in rigging enough voting machines to swing this election if it's close enough.
   • Can politics at the margin hold the balance in a decision on foreign policy, as it can sometimes swing an election?
   • That said, organizers don't need 20 million to swing the election he adds.
   • I can think of several social issues where you can swing some electoral votes away from the party.
   • Could this really be what swings the election one way or the other?
   • She does seem to feel as if she's just swung the election, mind.
   • Then there is the issue of whether a small mobilization advantage can be enough to swing the presidential election.
   • Whether this sliver of defectors will once again be big enough to swing a presidential election is less clear.
   • This volatile issue was used to mobilize voters and swing elections at all levels.
   • But she also raises health and education as major election issues that could yet swing her vote.
   • Only thirty students from the state school are registered to vote, so it isn't likely to swing the election.
2. 4.2informal with object Succeed in bringing about.
   what swung it was the £17,000 she offered the panel to let her win

   Example sentencesExamples

   • At Manchester United, you had Monday morning and all day Thursday on academic things, so that's what swung it.
   • According to Associated Press voting data, Democrats could have added 13 seats by swinging 49,469 votes.
   • What swung it was the thought that my husband might be having to steel himself each time I drew near for a kiss.
   • Even as late as 2000, he could probably have swung it.
   • But the bit that swung it for me was when she said that camping has never been so trendy.
   • But what might have finally swung it in his favour was his looks and his Face Of 2001 title.
   • But the thing she believes really swung it was that her husband was foreign and not even European.

   Synonyms

   accomplish, achieve, obtain, acquire, get, secure, net, win, earn, attain, bag, capture, grab, hook

   manoeuvre, sort out

   informal wangle, land, fix (up), work, get hold of, nab, collar, pull down, knock off

5no object Play music with a flowing but vigorous rhythm.

1. 5.1 (of music) be played with a flowing but vigorous rhythm.
   Example sentencesExamples

   • Their music neither rocks nor swings - it jumps.
   • These dozen folk-punk songs swing with an infectious rhythm.
   • Back among their brethren in Harlem many took comfort in late-night jams - where the music really swung - but also in drink and hard drugs.
   • The music swings and the professionals perform elaborately energetic movements.
   • One number rocked, one swung - stylistically it was all over the place, and much the better for it.

6informal no object (of an event, place, or way of life) be lively, exciting, or fashionable.

7informal no object Engage in group sex or swap sexual partners within a group, especially on a habitual basis.

1A seat suspended by ropes or chains, on which someone may sit and swing back and forth.

1. 1.1 A period of time spent swinging back and forth on a seat suspended by ropes or chains.
   Example sentencesExamples

   • Go into the play ground and have a swing on the swings.
   • I decided it would be irresponsible of me to leave without ensuring that they worked properly. So I had a swing for 5 minutes.

2An act of swinging.

1. 2.1 The manner in which a golf club or a bat is swung.
   the flaws in his swing weren't evident when he was an amateur

   Example sentencesExamples

   • This system recognizes that golfers come in all shapes and sizes and their golf swing should reflect this.
   • As a golf swing involves the whole body, any part of the body can be injured in the course of play, the researchers caution.
   • He says he hit the ball better and his swing was sharper than it was during his hot streak, but too often he simply hit balls that didn't fall in.
   • It was a good experience to go through because I got a lot of what I wanted in my golf swing.
   • This is a very similar motion to the one that occurs during the hitting segment in the golf swing.
   • How can the golf swings of the top players differ so dramatically, yet work so well?
   • I knew some aspects of my swing were flawed, but I wasn't working towards curing them.
   • He had been showing a tentative swing in batting practice, though his aggressiveness was present in games.
   • Someone is practising his golf swing in the nets on the sports area.
   • In addition to the above, other factors need to be considered and corrected to improve your golf swing.
   • There's been a big change in his body mannerisms and his golf swing.
   • The researchers referred to timing as those forces that are applied to the golf club during the swing.
   • He'll never hit long homers, but he has such remarkable bat control that he can alter his swing to lift the ball.
   • Not only did playing fast boost his endurance; it improved his swing and accuracy, too.
   • He said it was difficult to teach golf properly unless coaches could place their pupils' hands in a proper position on the club or turn their shoulders to demonstrate a proper swing.
   • When he mentioned something about having a nice feel for his golf swing, a reporter asked how he did that.
   • A proper stroke has been compared to the proper swing of a golf club.
   • He has enough power that shortening his swing shouldn't reduce his long-ball potential.
   • But my children did break out with the eldest boy taking his first tentative swing with a golf club in a coaching lesson costing £7 for an hour.
   • Strength without flexibility is not conducive to producing power in your golf swing.
   • I'm not the type of hitter you would try to pitch around, I'm not a McGwire who can hit the ball out on each swing.
   • If you think this article is going to be about the finer points of the follow through of the golf swing, then you are mistaken.
   • Last season, he focused too much on trying to hit home runs by pulling the ball, and his swing got messed up in the process.
   • On the other hand, all my players have different golf swings.
2. 2.2mass noun The motion of swinging.
   this short cut gave her hair new movement and swing

   Example sentencesExamples

   • Until the 1920s, the most accurate timepieces depended on the regular swing of a pendulum.
   • Here, layers are added at the chin length to increase hair volume and give some swing.
   • A full skirt adds swing and style.

   Synonyms

   sweep, wave, roll, shake, movement, oscillation, undulation
3. 2.3 An attempted blow or punch.
   Neil took a swing at her

   Example sentencesExamples

   • He slammed his drink down on the counter, headed over to the man with the loudest voice and took a swing at him.
   • He took a swing at the remaining youth, knocking the hat from his head.
   • She quickly turned back around and took a swing to punch me in the face but I jerked my head back so she could miss.
   • There were some swings and some punches as well as a few cheap kicks.
   • After that, I snapped back to reality and started dodging his punches and swings.
   • Before the sword was near him, he struck the horse's head with an underhand swing, knocking the beast onto its side.

   Synonyms

   strike, stroke, swing, hit, slap, brush, cuff, clip
4. 2.4Cricket mass noun Sideways deviation of the ball from a regular path.
   as modifier a swing bowler

   Example sentencesExamples

   • The left-arm swing bowler has now gathered up 21 Championship wickets in the last six innings and he has taken them at an incredible average of 8.76 runs apiece.
   • He told me to concentrate mostly on the old ball when it would take reverse swing, and his suggestion worked wonders.
   • Coming back into the side after an injury, he will be looking to establish himself as the premier exponent of swing bowling in the country.
   • The pace and late swing of Pakistan's fast bowlers proved too much to handle.
   • They're all swing bowlers too, and there are not many swing bowlers in the world at the moment.
   • For a bowler who mainly relies on swing, you'd expect Hoggard to enjoy the conditions in England.
   • Does it surprise you that genuine swing bowlers are such a rare breed these days?
   • He bowled superbly, put ball in the right areas with a bit of swing, and made the wicket look like it was doing something.
   • He bowled an excellent spell late in the day, getting appreciable reverse swing.
   • The breakthrough came from Jones, an inspiration at times, who had begun to gain some swing as the ball scuffed.
   • Here's the best young swing bowler in the country.
   • His ability to swing the ball would be missed because it is swing bowling that has undone Australia's batsmen as much as anything.
   • The West Indies were constrained early in their chase by some healthy swing bowling aided by the overcast conditions.
   • Agarkar, it might be observed, is a much better bowler with the old ball when he can generate reverse swing.
   • I was getting swing, because essentially I am a swing bowler, but there were too many wides.
   • Bowlers depending on swing have traditionally fared well here.
   • He stuck to the same line and had some reverse swing going.
   • The only problem I had was learning to control the swing of the ball and I am working on that.
   • Pace bowlers should master swing, change of pace, bowling yorkers and other variations.
   • Serious back problems, then a dislocated shoulder restricted the left-arm swing bowler to a handful of appearances over the past two seasons.

3A discernible change in opinion, especially the amount by which votes or points scored change from one side to another.

4mass noun A style of jazz or dance music with a flowing but vigorous rhythm.

1. 4.1 The rhythmic feeling or drive of swing.
   Example sentencesExamples

   • Whilst these recordings are very good and well recorded, they just don't have that swing.
   • On record, he is a master of filling spaces with innovative licks, whilst still leaving enough room for the music's swing and rhythm to ease the tunes along.
   • It is perhaps the busiest of the productions on the album working more of a swing into its rhythmic structure.
   • But it's the song's swing rather than its lyrics that keep it agitated.

5North American A swift tour involving a number of stops, especially one undertaken as part of a political campaign.

6(in musical theatre) an understudy, typically one who covers multiple roles in the chorus of a particular production.