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Swartness

The quality or state of being swart.

Swash

Impulse of water flowing with violence; a dashing or splashing of water.

Swashbuckler

A bully or braggadocio; a swaggering, boastful fellow; a swaggerer.

Swasher

One who makes a blustering show of valor or force of arms.

Swashy

Soft, like fruit that is too ripe; quashy; swash.

Swastica Swastika

A symbol or ornament in the form of a Greek cross with the ends of the arms at right angles all in the same direction, and each prolonged to the height of the parallel arm of the cross. A great many modified forms exist, ogee and volute as well as rectilinear, while various decorative designs, as Greek fret or meander, are derived from or closely associated with it. The swastika is found in remains from the Bronze Age in various parts of Europe, esp. at Hissarlik (Troy), and was in frequent use as late as the 10th century. It is found in ancient Persia, in India, where both Jains and Buddhists used (or still use) it as religious symbol, in China and Japan, and among Indian tribes of North, Central, and South America. It is usually thought to be a charm, talisman, or religious token, esp. a sign of good luck or benediction. Max M/ller distinguished from the swastika, with arms prolonged to the right, the suavastika, with arms prolonged to the left, but this distinction is not commonly recognized. Other names for the swastika are fylfot and gammadion.

Swat

a former state in Northwest India, now a part of Pakistan. It was ruled by a prince called a Wali.

Swat team SWAT team

a special group of police trained to deal with unusually dangerous or violent situations, and having special weapons, such as rifles more powerful than those carried by regular police officers. They are employed, for example, in situations when hostages are being held, or heavily armed persons need to be captured. Called also SWAT or S.W.A.T..

Swath

A line of grass or grain cut and thrown together by the scythe in mowing or cradling.

Swathe

A bandage; a band; a swath.

Swather

A device attached to a mowing machine for raising the uncut fallen grain and marking the limit of the swath.

Sway

The act of swaying; a swaying motion; the swing or sweep of a weapon.

Sway-backed

Having the back hollow or sagged, whether naturally or as the result of injury or weakness; -- said of horses and other animals.

Sway-bracing

The horizontal bracing of a bridge, which prevents its swaying.

Swayed

Bent down, and hollow in the back; sway-backed; -- said of a horse.

Swaying

An injury caused by violent strains or by overloading; -- said of the backs of horses.

Sweal

To singe; to scorch; to swale; as, to sweal a pig by singeing off the hair.

Swear

To utter or affirm with a solemn appeal to God for the truth of the declaration; to make (a promise, threat, or resolve) under oath.

Swearer

One who swears; one who calls God to witness for the truth of his declaration.

Sweat

The fluid which is excreted from the skin of an animal; the fluid secreted by the sudoriferous glands; a transparent, colorless, acid liquid with a peculiar odor, containing some fatty acids and mineral matter; perspiration. See Perspiration.

Sweaty

Moist with sweat; as, a sweaty skin; a sweaty garment.

Swede

A native or inhabitant of Sweden.

Sweeny

An atrophy of the muscles of the shoulder in horses; also, atrophy of any muscle in horses.

Sweep

The act of sweeping.

Sweepage

The crop of hay got in a meadow.

Sweeper

One who, or that which, sweeps, or cleans by sweeping; a sweep; as, a carpet sweeper.

Sweeping

Cleaning off surfaces, or cleaning away dust, dirt, or litter, as a broom does; moving with swiftness and force; carrying everything before it; including in its scope many persons or things; as, a sweeping flood; a sweeping majority; a sweeping accusation.

Sweepings

Things collected by sweeping; rubbish; as, the sweepings of a street.

Sweepstakes

A winning of all the stakes or prizes; a sweepstake.

Sweepwasher

One who extracts the residuum of precious metals from the sweepings, potsherds, etc., of refineries of gold and silver, or places where these metals are used.

Sweepy

Moving with a sweeping motion.

Sweet-breasted

Having a sweet, musical voice, as the nightingale. Cf. Breast, n., 6.

Sweet-sop

A kind of custard apple (Anona squamosa). See under Custard.

Sweetbread

Either the thymus gland or the pancreas, the former being called neck sweetbread or throat sweetbread, the latter belly sweetbread. The sweetbreads of ruminants, esp. of the calf, are highly esteemed as food. See Pancreas, and Thymus.

Sweetbrier

A kind of rose (Rosa rubiginosa) with minutely glandular and fragrant foliage. The small-flowered sweetbrier is Rosa micrantha.

Sweetener

One who, or that which, sweetens; one who palliates; that which moderates acrimony.

Sweetmeat

Fruit preserved with sugar, as peaches, pears, melons, nuts, orange peel, etc.; -- usually in the plural; a confect; a confection.

Sweetness

The quality or state of being sweet (in any sense of the adjective); gratefulness to the taste or to the smell; agreeableness.

Sweetwater

A variety of white grape, having a sweet watery juice; -- also called white sweetwater, and white muscadine.

Sweetweed

A name for two tropical American weeds (Capraria biflora, and Scoparia dulcis) of the Figwort family.

Sweetwood

The true laurel (Laurus nobilis.) The timber of the tree Oreodaphne Leucoxylon, growing in Jamaica. The name is also applied to the timber of several other related trees.

Swell

Having the characteristics of a person of rank and importance; showy; dandified; distinguished; as, a swell person; a swell neighborhood.

Swelldom

People of rank and fashion; the class of swells, collectively.

Swellfish

Any plectognath fish that dilates itself, as the bur fish, puffer, or diodon.

Swelling

The act of that which swells; as, the swelling of rivers in spring; the swelling of the breast with pride.

Swelt

To overpower, as with heat; to cause to faint; to swelter.

Sweltry

Suffocating with heat; oppressively hot; sultry.

Swept

imp. p. p. of Sweep.

Sweven

A vision seen in sleep; a dream.

Swietenia

A genus of meliaceous trees consisting of one species (Sweitenia Mahogoni), the mahogany tree.

Swift

The current of a stream.

Swifter

To tighten, as slack standing rigging, by bringing the opposite shrouds nearer.

Swiftlet

Any one of numerous species of small East Indian and Asiatic swifts of the genus Collocalia. Some of the species are noted for furnishing the edible bird's nest. See Illust. under Edible.

Swiftly

In a swift manner; with quick motion or velocity; fleetly.

Swiftness

The quality or state of being swift; speed; quickness; celerity; velocity; rapidity; as, the swiftness of a bird; the swiftness of a stream; swiftness of descent in a falling body; swiftness of thought, etc.

Swig

To castrate, as a ram, by binding the testicles tightly with a string, so that they mortify and slough off.

Swill

The wash, or mixture of liquid substances, given to swine; hogwash; -- called also swillings.

Swim

To be dizzy; to have an unsteady or reeling sensation; as, the head swims.

Swimbel

A moaning or sighing sound or noise; a sough.

Swimmeret

One of a series of flat, fringed, and usually bilobed, appendages, of which several pairs occur on the abdominal somites of many crustaceans. They are used as fins in swimming.

Swimming

Vertigo; dizziness; as, a swimming in the head.

Swimmingly

In an easy, gliding manner, as if swimming; smoothly; successfully; prosperously.

Swindle

The act or process of swindling; a cheat.

Swindler

One who swindles, or defrauds grossly; one who makes a practice of defrauding others by imposition or deliberate artifice; a cheat.

Swine

Any animal of the hog kind, especially one of the domestical species. Swine secrete a large amount of subcutaneous fat, which, when extracted, is known as lard. The male is specifically called boar, the female, sow, and the young, pig. See Hog.

Swine-pox

A variety of the chicken pox, with acuminated vesicles containing a watery fluid; the water pox.

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