swim

swim — verb

1. to push your body forward in water using your limbs so that you stay on top of t

1.verbtransitive / intransitiveA1
Definition

to push your body forward in water using your limbs so that you stay on top of the surface and travel where you want to go.

Example

Every morning before school, Christopher swims twenty laps in the community pool.

swim + distance (twenty laps)

Lakshmi's mother said the children could not swim in the river because the current moved too fast.

swim + place preposition (in the river)

Common collocations
  • swim across
  • swim laps
  • swim freestyle
  • learn to swim
  • go swimming
  • swim a length
Synonyms
  • paddle

    refers to gentle movement in shallow water, not full swimming; less formal

  • bathe

    older British usage meaning to swim in the sea or a river; now sounds dated

Antonyms
  • sink

    to go down below the surface of water rather than staying afloat

  • drown

    to die from being underwater and unable to breathe

Grammar Patterns

swim + adverb/preposition

swim + noun phrase (distance or stretch of water)

Usage Note

Frequently used with adverbs of direction (across, through, to, towards) and prepositions of place (in, at). The transitive form is used for distances (swim a kilometre) or bodies of water (swim the Channel). The present participle is swimming (double m).

Common Mistakes

I went to swimming in the pool.
I went swimming in the pool.
After 'go', use the gerund form 'swimming', not 'to swim' or 'to swimming'.
He swimmed across the river.
He swam across the river.
The past tense of 'swim' is 'swam', not 'swimmed'.

2. to be too heavily covered or filled with a liquid, especially when food has an u

2.verbintransitiveB2
Definition

to be too heavily covered or filled with a liquid, especially when food has an unpleasant amount of sauce, oil, or dressing.

Example

When the waiter brought the salad, it was swimming in a thick cream dressing that ruined the taste.

swim in + (liquid)

The pasta arrived swimming with butter, which made the dish too rich for Asher to finish.

swim with + (liquid)

Common collocations
  • swimming in oil
  • swimming in butter
  • swimming with cream
  • swimming in sauce
Synonyms
  • drenched in

    stronger and more negative than 'swimming in'; implies soaking wetness

  • soaked with

    similar meaning but less specific to food; can refer to any material

Antonyms
  • light on

    having only a small amount of something; opposite of excessive coverage

Grammar Patterns

swim in + noun (liquid/sauce)

swim with + noun (liquid/sauce)

Usage Note

Almost always used in the continuous form (is swimming / was swimming). The phrase carries a negative connotation — the amount of liquid is seen as excessive and unpleasant. The subject is always food or a dish.

Common Mistakes

The soup swam with vegetables.
The vegetables swam in oily soup.
The sense applies to solid food covered in liquid, not the liquid itself.

3. if things you look at swim, they appear to move slowly or twist around in an uns

3.verbintransitiveB2
Definition

if things you look at swim, they appear to move slowly or twist around in an unsteady way, usually because you are ill, drunk, or extremely tired.

Example

After the long boat ride, the walls of the room seemed to swim before Ada's eyes.

seem to swim before [possessive] eyes

The letters on the page began to swim as Piotr tried to read with a high fever.

begin to swim

Common collocations
  • seem to swim
  • begin to swim
  • swim before one's eyes
Synonyms
  • blur

    means to become unclear or unfocused rather than moving; a different visual effect

  • spin

    stronger and faster motion than swim; usually implies rotation

Grammar Patterns

object + swim (before eyes/vision)

Usage Note

Distinguish from sense 4: in sense 3, the objects themselves look like they are moving. The subject is the thing being seen (letters, walls, trees), not the person. Often used with 'seem to' or 'appear to' or 'begin to'.

4. describes the dizzy, mixed-up feeling a person gets when they are ill, exhausted

4.verbintransitiveB2
Definition

describes the dizzy, mixed-up feeling a person gets when they are ill, exhausted, shocked, or very emotional — their head feels as though it is turning.

Example

Sari's head swam when she heard the shocking news about the accident.

head swam (sudden onset)

After not sleeping for two nights, Imran felt his head swimming with exhaustion.

head is swimming with (cause)

Common collocations
  • head swims
  • head swam
  • head is swimming
  • swim with exhaustion
  • swim with confusion
Synonyms
  • feel dizzy

    more direct and literal; can be used for any cause of dizziness

  • reel

    stronger, more dramatic; suggests feeling unsteady as if about to fall, often from shock

Antonyms

Grammar Patterns

head swims

head swam

head is swimming

Usage Note

The subject is always a person's 'head' (my head, her head, his head). Unlike sense 3 where objects appear to move, sense 4 describes an internal sensation of dizziness. Common in past tense ('head swam') and continuous form ('head is swimming'). Often used with 'with' to state the cause.

Common Mistakes

I swam when I heard the news.
My head swam when I heard the news.
The verb 'swim' in this sense always takes 'head' as the subject, not the person.
Idioms

sink or swim

idiom

to be put in a situation where you must either succeed through your own efforts or fail completely, without any help or support from others.

The company gave the new sales team no training and simply left them to sink or swim on their own.

When Ada transferred to the advanced maths class, it was sink or swim — she had to learn the material quickly or fall behind.

swim — noun

swim — adjective

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: verb/1

All four words describe being in water, but they differ in effort and intention. 'Swim' means actively moving through water using your arms and legs to travel somewhere — it is the most general and common word for the activity. 'Paddle' refers to gentle, often playful movement in shallow water where you do not fully swim; children paddle at the beach, but adults do not usually say they 'went paddling' as exercise. 'Bathe' is an older British term for swimming in the sea or a river for pleasure ('We bathed at Brighton beach'), but it sounds dated and is rarely used in everyday American English. 'Float' means to stay on the surface of the water without moving — it is not a form of travel or exercise, just resting on top of the water. For example: 'Lakshmi swam across the pool, then floated on her back to rest.' If you are describing a workout, use 'swim'; if you are gently splashing in shallow water, use 'paddle'; if you want the old-fashioned holiday feel, use 'bathe'.

swim ↗paddlebathe ↗float ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

Phrases

  • go for a swim
  • have a swim
  • take a swim

Prepositions

Etymology

Proto-GermanicOld EnglishMiddle EnglishEnglish

The word 'swim' comes from the Old English 'swimman', meaning 'to move in water,' which traces back to the Proto-Germanic 'swimmaną'. This Germanic root is related to words in other Germanic languages, such as Old Norse 'symja', Old High German 'swimman', and Gothic 'swimman'. The sense of 'swim' expanded over time from the literal movement through water to figurative uses: by the 1500s it was used for objects appearing to move before the eyes, and by the 1700s for feeling dizzy ('my head swims'). The noun form describing a single session of swimming (go for a swim) appeared in the early 1800s.