swim
♦ swim /sw'ɪm/ (swims swimming swam swum)
1 [VERB] V, V, V adv/prep, V amount/n
When you swim, you move through water by making movements with your arms and legs.
She learned to swim when she was really tiny...
I went round to Jonathan's to see if he wanted to go swimming...
He was rescued only when an exhausted friend swam ashore...
I swim a mile a day.
[N-SING]
Swim is also a noun.
When can we go for a swim, Mam?
2 [VERB] V n
If you swim a race, you take part in a swimming race.
She swam the 400 metres medley ten seconds slower than she did in 1980.
3 [VERB] V n
If you swim a stretch of water, you keep swimming until you have crossed it.
In 1875, Captain Matthew Webb became the first man to swim the English Channel.
4 [VERB] V adv/prep, also V
When a fish swims, it moves through water by moving its body.
The barriers are lethal to fish trying to swim upstream.
5 [VERB] V
If objects swim, they seem to be moving backwards and forwards, usually because you are ill.
Alexis suddenly could take no more: he felt too hot, he couldn't breathe, the room swam.
6 [VERB] V
If your head is swimming, you feel unsteady and slightly ill.
The musty aroma of incense made her head swim.
= spin
7
sink or swim: see sink
1 [VERB] V, V, V adv/prep, V amount/n
When you swim, you move through water by making movements with your arms and legs.
She learned to swim when she was really tiny...
I went round to Jonathan's to see if he wanted to go swimming...
He was rescued only when an exhausted friend swam ashore...
I swim a mile a day.
[N-SING]
Swim is also a noun.
When can we go for a swim, Mam?
2 [VERB] V n
If you swim a race, you take part in a swimming race.
She swam the 400 metres medley ten seconds slower than she did in 1980.
3 [VERB] V n
If you swim a stretch of water, you keep swimming until you have crossed it.
In 1875, Captain Matthew Webb became the first man to swim the English Channel.
4 [VERB] V adv/prep, also V
When a fish swims, it moves through water by moving its body.
The barriers are lethal to fish trying to swim upstream.
5 [VERB] V
If objects swim, they seem to be moving backwards and forwards, usually because you are ill.
Alexis suddenly could take no more: he felt too hot, he couldn't breathe, the room swam.
6 [VERB] V
If your head is swimming, you feel unsteady and slightly ill.
The musty aroma of incense made her head swim.
= spin
7
sink or swim: see sink