Swim v.

Pa. t. swam; pa. pple. swum. Forms: 1 swimman, (swymman), 2–7 swimme, 3–7 swymme, 4–5 sweme, 4–6 swime, 5–6 swym(e, 7–9 Sc. sweem, (3 swemme, 4 suemme, suim, suiymme, squim, 5 swymb, 6 swymm), 6– swim; Sc. 4–6 swome, 6 soume, sowme, swoume, 8 sume, 8–9 soum, sowm, s(w)oom. Pa. t. str. 1 swamm, 3–4 suam, (4 squam), 4–6 swame, 5–7 swamme, 1– swam; pl. 1 swummon, 2 swummen, 3 svommen, 3–5 swomme, 4 swumme; 1, 4–7 (9 dial.) swom, 4–7 swomme, 6–7 swumme, swome, (6 swoome, swume, swomm), 6–9 swum; wk. 3 swymde, 5 swymyd, 6 swymmed, Sc. swoumit, 6–8 (9 dial.) swimmed, 7 swimed, 9 Sc. soomed. Pa. pple. str. 1 (ʓe)swummen, 4, 7 swommen, 6–7 swom(m)e, (7 swoome, swumme, swom, swimme), 6– swum; 7– (now incorrect) swam; wk. 6 swymmed, Sc. swymmit, 6–7 (9 dial.) swimmed, 9 Sc. soomed, sweemed. [Com. Teut. str. vb. (not recorded for Gothic): OE. swimman, pa. t. swamm, also swam, swom, pl. swummon, pa. pple. swummen, = OFris. swimma (WFris. swimme, swom or swimde, swommen), MLG. swemmen, MDu. swemmen, swimmen, swam, swommen (Du. zwemmen, zwom, geswommen), OHG. swimman, swam, swummun, (MHG. swimmen, G. schwimmen, schwamm, geschwommen), ON. svimma, svamm, summu, sommet, (MSw. symma, *svamm, summo, summith, Sw. simma, sam, summit, ODa. svemme, svømme, svam, svemde, svemmet, sømmet, Norw., Da. svømme).

  The Scand. langs. show the following secondary forms, in mod. dial. often with wk. conjugation: ON. svima and symja, svam, svámu, svimit, MSw. sima, sam, samo, sumit, Norw. svemja, svømja, and symja, svam, svom, and svamde, sumde, svomet, s(v)oomt, swamt.

  Related forms in Germanic containing other vowel-grades are the following: NFris. swum, swomme, EFris. swom (:-*swomma), MLG. swommen, swummen wk. to swim, OHG. geswumft, swummôth swimming, Goth. swumfsl pool, OE. suna SOUND sb.¹; MHG. swamen to swim, ON. svamla to swim with much noise (cf. Norw. dial. sumla). A causative form *swam(m)jan is represented by OE. beswemman, MHG. swemmen (G. schwemmen).

  The Indo-eur. root swem- with the wider meaning of ‘to be in motion’ is found in W. chwyf motion, OIr. do-sennaim I hunt, Lith. sùndyti to chase.]

  I.  Intransitive senses.

  1.  To move along in or on water by movements of the limbs or other natural means of progression.

Beowulf, 1624 (Gr.). Com þa to lande lidmanna helm swiðmod swymman.

a. 1000.  Riddles, LXXIII. 4 (Gr.). Ic … fleah mid fuʓlum & on flode swom.

c. 1000.  Ælfric, Hom., II. 516. Ða ʓeseah he swymman scealfran on flode.

c. 1050.  Voc., in Wr.-Wülcker, 454/30. Nat, swam, swimð.

c. 1175.  Lamb. Hom., 51. Heo bi-gon to swimmen forðward mid þe streme and swam hire þer aȝen. Ibid., 129. Alle þe fiscas þe swummen in þere se.

c. 1205.  Lay., 1342. Þa mereminnen heom to svommen. Ibid. (c. 1275), 26078. Com þar a fisc swemme.

c. 1290.  St. Patrick’s Purgat., 350, in S. Eng. Leg., 210. In þat water,… Þis gostes swymden op and doun.

a. 1330.  Otuel, 1617. Summe swumme & summe sunke.

c. 1375.  Sc. Leg. Saints, xvii. (Martha), 108. He enterit in riuere faste, & swemand ay, til and mycht leste.

1375.  Barbour, Bruce, III. 431. Sum off thaim couth swome full weill.

1382.  Wyclif, Acts xxvii. 42. Lest ony schulde scape, whanne he hadde swymmed [1526 Tindale, 1535 Coverdale, 1560 Geneva swome] out.

c. 1386.  Chaucer, Miller’s T., 389. Thanne shal I swymme [v.r. sweme] as myrie,… As dooth the white doke after hire drake.

c. 1470.  Henry, Wallace, V. 515. Quhen he is strest, than can he swym [v.r. swoome] at will.

1535.  Coverdale, Ezek. xlvii. 5. The water was so depe, that it was nedefull to haue swymmed.

a. 1593.  Marlowe, Hero & Leander, II. 250. Vouchsafe these armes some little roome, Who hoping to imbrace thee, cherely swome.

1597.  Beard, Theatre God’s Judgem. (1612), 273. They swum through the waters amaine.

1606.  Sylvester, Du Bartas, II. iv. III. Schism, 431. The Crystall Wave, Over the which so often swom they have.

1635.  R. N., trans. Camden’s Hist. Eliz., I. 66. Being shipwrack’t … he had swumme till his strength and his armes failed him.

1638.  Mayne, Lucian (1664), 174. In the sight of all he swumme over to the enemies.

1653.  Walton, Angler, vi. 135. Some … young Salmons, which have been taken in Weires, as they swimm’d towards the salt water.

1670.  Milton, Hist. Eng., II. Wks. 1851, V. 57. His Foot so pass’d over, his Horse waded or swom.

a. 1677.  Hale, Prim. Orig. Man., II. vii. (1677), 202. Though it hath been observed that Bears have swimmed into Islands many Leagues from the Continent.

1676.  Shadwell, Virtuoso, II. Admirably well struck! rarely swom!

1701.  J. Brand, New Descr. Orkney, etc. (1703), 110. Betaking themselves to Sea, they endeavour to sweem to the next Isle.

1750.  Johnson, Rambler, No. 24, ¶ 9. Who, being shipwrecked, had swam naked to land.

1776.  Mickle, trans. Camoens’ Lusiad, Introd. 112. His poems, which he held in one hand, while he swimmed with the other [etc.].

1827.  Carlyle, Germ. Rom., I. 161. The messengers … had swam across the Elbe and the Moldau.

1853.  Kingsley, Hypatia, iii. Luckily Philammon … was a bather, and swam like a water-fowl.

1890.  ‘R. Boldrewood,’ Col. Reformer, xiv. (1891), 156. Maories and Kanakas can swim, repeated the old man…. White men like you and me can only paddle.

  b.  fig. or in fig. context or phrase.

  To swim between two waters (occas. erron. streams), tr. F. prov. nager entre deur eaux: to steer between two extremes.

c. 1400.  Rom. Rose, 7007. Al amydde I bilde and mak My hous and swimme [MS. swmme] and pley therynne Bet than a fish doth with his fynne.

c. 1400.  Pety Job, 83, in 26 Pol. Poems, 123. For Mary loue, that mayde so fre, In whos blode thy son swamme.

c. 1480.  Henryson, Mor. Fab., Paddock & Mouse, xxiii. Mannis bodie, swymand air and lait In to this warld,… quhilis plungit vp, quhilis doun.

1561.  trans. Calvin’s 4 Serm. Idol., i. A vj b. Thei that swim (as the common saying) betwixt two waters allege [etc.].

1567.  Satir. Poems Reform., iii. 53. He swoumit in the fluidis of Poetrie.

1595.  Spenser, Col. Clout, 782. Vnlesse he swim in loue vp to the eares.

1598.  Chapman, Marlowe’s Hero & Leander, III. 100. When on his breasts warme sea she sideling swims.

1642.  H. More, Song of Soul, Oracle, Wks. (Grosart), 134. Well hast thou swommen out, and left that stage Of wicked Actours.

1649.  Howell, Pre-em. Parl., 17. My whole life (since I was left to myself to swim, as they say without bladders).

1738.  Wesley, Hymn, ‘Of Him who did Salvation bring.’ He suffer’d; All our Guilt’s forgiven; And on his Blood we swim to Heaven.

1888.  Times (weekly ed.), 3 Feb., 9/2. These documents went swimming to and fro in the Admiralty.

1889.  J. M. Duncan, Clin. Lect. Dis. Wom., xxviii. (ed. 4), 229. A woman who for a long time swam for her life, having had an attack of pyæmia in the course of her recovery from a perimetric abscess.

1890.  Barrère & Leland, Slang Dict., s.v., To make a man swim for it, is to cheat him out of his share.

1893.  Stevenson, Catriona, xi. 120. I could lay all these troubles by…; swim clear of the Appin murder, [etc.].

  c.  phr. To swim with or down the stream or the tide, to act in conformity with prevailing opinion or tendency (see STREAM sb. 2 f); so, in opposite sense, to swim against the stream.

a. 1592.  T. Watson, Tears of Fancy, xliii. Long haue I swome against the wished waue.

1592.  [see STREAM sb. 2 f].

1597.  Shaks., 2 Hen. IV., V. ii. 34. You must now speake Sir Iohn Falstaffe faire, Which swimmes against your streame of Quality.

1602.  Fulbecke, 2nd Pt. Parall., Introd. 3. Because I would not swim against the streame, nor be vnlike vnto my neighbours.

1631.  R. Bolton, Comf. Affl. Consc., 227. A notorious wretch which hath swumme downe the current of the times, and wallowed in worldly pleasures.

1697.  Collier, Ess. Mor. Subj., II. (1703), 74. A popular man always swims down the stream.

1712.  Steele, Spect., No. 492, ¶ 4. There is no help for it, we must swim with the Tide.

1760–72.  H. Brooke, Fool of Qual. (1809), IV. 21. Our young Englishman swam willingly down the stream of pleasure.

1855.  Motley, Dutch Rep., III. vi. (1866), 452/1. The President stoutly told him that he was endeavouring to swim against the stream, that the tax was offensive to the people. Ibid., V. iv. 727/1. They … had sought to swim on the popular tide when it was rising.

  2.  To float on the surface of any liquid; to be supported on water or other fluid; not to sink; to form the upper part of a mass of liquid. Sometimes, To rise and float on the surface.

c. 1000.  Sax. Leechd., II. 88. Wiþ circul adle ʓenim doccan þa þe swimman wille.

1382.  Wyclif, 2 Kings vi. 6. Felle the yren of the axe in to the watir … Thanne he hewede of a tree, and putte thider; and the yren swam.

1558.  Warde, trans. Alexis’ Secr., 44 b. Take vp with a … spone … all the oyle that shall swim aboue.

1560.  Rolland, Seven Sages, 23. Thay gar sweit licour swym aboue, and gall is at the ground.

1607.  God’s Warning, in Harl. Misc. (Malh.), III. 66. Sheepe swimming upon the waters dead.

1650.  W. D., trans. Comenius’ Gale Lat. Unl., § 71. If one plunge or drown anie thing under it [sc. water], it will swim out again.

1665.  Hooke, Microgr., vi. 12. Several distinct Liquors, which swimming one upon another, will not presently mix.

1775.  Johnson, Diary, 23 Oct., in Boswell. The cannon ball swam in the quicksilver.

1798.  in Nicolas, Disp. Nelson (1845), III. 51. A boat, the only one that could swim.

1807.  T. Thomson, Chem. (ed. 3), II. 407. On standing, the mixture separated into two portions; the alcohol holding the salt in solution sunk to the bottom; the ether swam on the surface.

1884.  Chr. Commonw., 23 Oct., 20/3. Men are skimming the milk before much of the cream has had time to swim.

  b.  To be supported in a fluid medium.

1547.  Recorde, Judic. Ur., 17. If it [sc. the sediment in urine] be so lyght, that it swym in the myddle region of the urine, then it is called the sublation or swym.

a. 1661.  Boyle, Cert. Physiol. Ess., iv. (1669), 131. Amongst whose little Crystals nevertheless there appear’d to swim very little grains.

1817.  Shelley, Rev. Islam, V. iv. Methought, his voice did swim As if it drowned in remembrance were Of thoughts.

1895.  Crockett, Men of Moss-Hags, xli. 296. When my minnie gaed to him with the guid kail broo and the braxy sooming amang it.

  c.  fig. and in fig. context.

1547–64.  Bauldwin, Mor. Philos. (Palfr.), 144. A very fruitlesse and dead faith,… which swimmeth like a fume in the outward parts of mens thoughts.

1563.  Becon, Demands Script., Pref. (1577), A iij. This holy woord of God among you, swimmeth not in your lippes only, but it also shineth in your lyfe and conuersation.

1587.  Fleming, Contn. Holinshed, III. 1353/1. Why we let them [sc. God’s laws] swim in our lips, and slip from our liues, as the vaine Iewes did.

1788.  Sir J. Reynolds, Disc., vi. 219. The principles on which the work is wrought … do not swim on the superficies, and consequently are not open to superficial observers.

1850.  Tennyson, In Mem., cviii. On the depths of death there swims The reflex of a human face.

  d.  Phr. in which swim is opposed to sink; esp. sink or swim (occas. swim or drown), used spec. in reference to the ordeal of suspected witches (cf. 14 b), hence fig. = ‘whatever may happen.’

c. 1410.  Lanterne of Liȝt, 106. Þei charge not wheþir þei [sc. souls] synk or swyme, so þei moun regne as lordis.

1538.  Starkey, England (1878), 85. For the rest they care not (as hyt ys commynly sayd) whether they synke or swyme.

a. 1553.  Udall, Royster D., I. iii. (Arb.), 22. I care not to let all alone, choose it swimme or sinke.

1611.  Cotgr., s.v. Nager, A fauourite of the time, or of authoritie, may boldly swimme where another would sinke.

1786.  Burns, Earnest Cry & Prayer, v. Let posts an’ pensions sink or swoom.

1825.  [see SINK 9. 1 Phr.].

1860.  Whyte-Melville, Holmby House, xviii. I. 274. Well, it’s ‘over shoes over boots now,’ and sink or swim, I won’t give in for the fear of a ducking!

1887.  Stevenson, Thrawn Janet, in Merry Men, etc. (1905), 132. The guidwives … pu’d her doun the clachan to the water o’ Dule, to see if she were a witch or no, soum or drown.

  3.  To move or float along on the surface of the water, as a ship. Now poet.

c. 1000.  Wanderer, 53 (Gr.). Secga ʓeseldan swimmað eft onweʓ.

a. 1300.  K. Horn, 203 (Camb. MS.). Wiþute sail & roþer Vre schip bigan to swymme [v.r. swemme] To þis londes brymme.

1513.  Douglas, Æneis, IX. iii. 95. O ȝe my schippys,… Go furth and swome as Goddessis of the see.

1617.  Moryson, Itin., II. 84. The carkasse of a broken ship swimming by vs.

1624.  Bacon, Consid. Warre w. Spaine, Misc. (1629), 41. The greatest Nauy that euer swam vpon the Sea.

1664.  Pepys, Diary, 22 Dec. To Redriffe … and saw the new vessel … launched…. It swims and looks finely.

1669.  Sturmy, Mariner’s Mag., V. xii. 81. The Ship was free, and swimmed.

1765.  R. Rogers, Acc. N. Amer., 18. Having good anchoring ground, and water sufficient for any ship that swims.

1817.  Shelley, To one Singing, 1. My spirit like a charmed bark doth swim Upon the liquid waves of thy sweet singing.

  b.  To be conveyed by a body floating on the water. Also fig. as in phr. ‘to be in the same boat with’ (BOAT sb. 1 d).

c. 1386.  Chaucer, Miller’s T., 364. A knedyng trogh or ellis a kymelyn,… In whiche we mowe swymme [v.r. sweme] as in a barge.

1571.  Satir. Poems Reform., xxxi. 100. Yai wald haif wist hir swoumand Intil a bait vpon Lochlowmond.

1600.  Shaks., A. Y. L., IV. i. 38. I will scarce thinke you haue swam in a Gundello.

1650.  Fuller, Pisgah, 410. The gold of Ophir swimming unto him in the ships of Tarshish.

1869.  ‘Wat. Bradwood’ The O. V. H. (1870), 215. Half the world will think we have scratched to swim in the same boat with Fisherman.

  4.  To move as water or other liquid, esp. over a surface; to flow.

c. 1400.  Song Roland, 70. It [sc. the wine] swymyd in ther hedis and mad hem to nap.

c. 1572.  Gascoigne, Posies, Fruites Warre, ccii. As long as any Sunne May shine on earth, or water swimme in Seas.

1582.  Stanyhurst, Æneis, II. (Arb.), 90. Thee goare blood spouteth … And swyms in the thrashold.

1683.  J. Reid, Scots Gard’ner (1907), 82. Husbandmen’s watering is, by running plough-furrowes and trenches where needful,… so as the water may gently sweem over the whole.

1725.  Fam. Dict., s.v. Pears, Comfit your Fruit as readily as you can, to the end, that the liquid Part may continually swim over the Fruit.

1831.  Society, I. 2. The … occasional tears which swam in the light blue eyes of her Hebe-looking companion.

  5.  To glide with a smooth or waving motion.

a. 1553.  Udall, Royster D., II. iii. (Arb.), 36. Ye shall see hir glide and swimme, Not lumperdee clumperdee like our spaniell Rig.

c. 1563.  Jack Juggler, B j. She minceth, she brideleth, she swimmeth to and fro.

a. 1591.  H. Smith, Serm. (1637), 175. Noblemen, when they … look upon their train swimming after them.

1623.  Drumm. of Hawth., Flowres of Sion, viii. Thus singing through the Aire the Angels swame.

1728–46.  Thomson, Spring, 784. The peacock spreads His every-coloured glory to the sun, And swims in radiant majesty along.

1760–72.  H. Brooke, Fool of Qual. (1792), II. 71. Turning away, she swam and disappeared in an instant.

1773.  Goldsm., Stoops to Conq., Epil. 28. [She] Doats upon dancing, and in all her pride, Swims round the room, the Heinel of Cheapside.

1830.  Macaulay, in Trevelyan, Life & Lett. (1876), I. iv. 164. Showy women swimming smoothly over the uneasy stones.

1888.  Stevenson, Black Arrow, 209. She … swam across the floor as though she scorned the drudgery of walking.

  b.  Of a plough (in full, to swim fair): To go steadily (see quots.).

1797.  Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3), XV. 75/1. When the plough goes on steadily, without any effort of the ploughman, it is said to be in trim, and to swim fair.

1842.  Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc., III. II. 357. The action of the plough was in no way deranged by that of the slicers; it ‘swam fair’ on the furrow bottom.

1844.  H. Stephens, Bk. Farm, I. 435. This plough, with its sole upon the surface of two years’ old lea, and the coulter alone in the soil, the bridle having been adjusted to make it swim without any undue tendency.

  6.  To move, or appear to move, as if gliding or floating on water; esp. to move, glide, or be suspended in the air or ether, occas. by mechanical means.

1661.  Boyle, Certain Physiol. Ess. (1669), 191. Those little moats that from a shady place we see swimming up and down in the Sun-beams.

1669.  Sturmy, Mariner’s Mag., I. ii. 3. The Compass swings in the Boxes,… the Chard swimming well on the Pin perpendicular in the middle of the Box.

1676.  Wood, Jrnl., in Acc. Sev. Late Voy., I. (1694), 149. The Sun … having no Depression towards the Horizon, but always swimming about at the same hight.

1708.  Brit. Apollo, No. 22. 2/1. I observ’d a Kite in the Air to swim several times round in a Circle.

1732.  Arbuthnot, Rules of Diet, in Aliments, etc., 414. This Disease may be easily communicated by the Contagion or steams of an infected Person swimming in the Air.

1780.  Cowper, Progr. Error, 333. The Muse, eagle-pinioned,… Down, down the wind, she swims, and sails away.

1833.  Tennyson, Two Voices, 262. High up the vapours fold and swim; About him broods the twilight dim.

1872.  Black, Adv. Phaeton, xxi. 303. The moon had swum further up into the heavens.

1895.  R. W. Chambers, King in Yellow, Street of Our Lady of Fields, iv. (1909), 253. The dome of the Pantheon swam aglow above the northern terrace, a fiery Valhalla in the sky.

  b.  Said of the apparent motion of objects before the eyes of a person whose sight is troubled or blurred.

1678.  Dryden, All for Love, III. ad fin. My sight grows dim, and every object dances, And swims before me, in the maze of death. Ibid. (1697), Æneid, X. 1050. A hov’ring Mist came swimming o’re his sight.

1707.  E. Smith, Phædra & Hippolitus, I. 7. Priests, Altars, Victims swam before my Sight!

1818.  Shelley, Rosalind, 194. Then all the scene was wont to swim Through the mist of a burning tear.

1818.  Byron, Ch. Har., IV. cxl. The arena swims around him—he is gone.

1857.  Dufferin, Lett. High Lat. (1867), 62. The room swam round before me.

1888.  ‘R. Boldrewood,’ Robbery under Arms, xviii. There was a sound like rushing waters in my ears, and the courthouse and the people all swam before my eyes.

  † c.  To ‘float’ in the mind. Obs.

1627.  Lisander & Cal., X. 215. The admirable attractions of her surmounting beauty swome in her minde.

1639.  S. Du Verger, trans. Camus’ Admir. Events, 87. Seeking to feed his eyes with the sight of this faire image, which swimmed in his fantasie.

  7.  Of the head or brain: To be affected with dizziness; to have a giddy sensation. Also, of the head, to swim round = to be in a whirl.

1702.  Steele, Funeral, I. (1734), 19. My Head swims, as it did when I fell into my Fit, at the Thought of it.

1782.  Cowper, Jackdaw, 10. Look up—your brains begin to swim.

1829.  Lytton, Devereux, I. iii. My head swam round.

1851.  D. Jerrold, St. Giles, xi. 108. His brain swam with the thought, and he almost fell to the earth.

1871.  C. Gibbon, Lack of Gold, xx. My head’s bizzing, and sooming, and burning.

1886.  Stevenson, Kidnapped, xvii. My own sides so ached, my head so swam,… that I lay beside him like one dead.

  b.  Of the eyes: To be troubled or blurred: with mixture of sense 10.

1817.  Shelley, Rev. Islam, VI. xxxvi. When the faint eyes swim Through tears of a wide mist boundless and dim.

1820.  W. Irving, Sketch Bk., Rip Van Winkle (1821), I. 63. At length his senses were overpowered, his eyes swam in his head.

1847.  Tennyson, Princ., VI. 193. Who turn’d half-round to Psyche as she sprang To meet it, with an eye that swum in thanks.

1860.  Tyndall, Glac., I. xxii. 155. On suddenly raising it [sc. my head] my eyes swam as they rested on the unbroken slope of snow.

  † 8.  transf. To abound with swimming animals.

c. 1381.  Chaucer, Parl. Foules, 188 (Harl. MS.). Colde welle stremes,… Þat swommyn ful of smale fysshes lyht.

a. 1578.  Lindesay (Pitscottie), Chron. Scot. (S.T.S.), I. 337. The stankis … was sowmond full of all deliecat fisches.

1596.  Dalrymple, trans. Leslie’s Hist. Scot., I. 23. A pleasand Loch swomeng full of fyne perchis.

  9.  To float, be immersed or steeped, in a fluid; also in fig. context (cf. b).

c. 1450.  Mirk’s Festial, 14. Þay vndedyn hit [sc. a tomb], and fonden his bones swymmyng yn oyle.

a. 1586.  Sidney, Ps. XVII. viii. Their eies doe swimme, their face doth shine in fatt.

1605.  B. Jonson, Volpone, I. i. When you do come to swim in golden lard, Up to the arms in honey.

1655.  Culpepper, etc., Riverius, II. vi. 337. The Water corrupted in the Abdomen, doth also corrupt the Bowels that swim therein.

1663.  Unfort. Usurper, I. ii. 5. I expected to see him almost drown’d with sorrow, But find him swiming, and almost drown’d in’s Liquor.

1698.  Fryer, Acc. E. India & P., 188. Rice thrives best in Watery Places, it swimming always therein till Harvest.

1719.  Ozell, trans. Misson’s Mem. Trav. Eng., 314. Five or six Heaps of Cabbage … or some other Herbs…, well pepper’d and salted, and swimming in Butter.

1719.  Ramsay, To Hamilton (Herrings), i. Your herrings … In healsome brine a’ soumin.

1775.  R. Chandler, Trav. Asia M., viii. (1825), I. 29. A cotton-wick swimming in oil.

  b.  fig. To be immersed or sunk in pleasure, grief, etc.; † to abound in.

c. 1412.  Hoccleve, De Reg. Princ., 1254. They þat swymmen in richesse Continuelly, and han prosperitee.

1526.  Tindale, 2 Thess. i. 3. Every one of you swymmeth in love towarde another betwene youre selves.

1575.  Gascoigne, Flowers, Wks. 1907, I. 94. I seeme to swime in such a sugred joye, As did (parcase) entise them to delight.

1590.  Spenser, F. Q., II. iii. 39. There thou maist loue, and dearely loued bee, And swim in pleasure.

1637.  Gillespie, Engl. Pop. Cerem., IV. vi. 30. They slept upon beds of yvorie, and swimmed in excessive pleasures upon their couches.

a. 1644.  Quarles, Sol. Recant., Sol. III. 38. At noon we swim in wine; at night, in tears.

1652.  Crashaw, Carmen Deo Nostro, Sancta Maria, iv. She sees her son … swimme In woes that were not made for Him.

1667.  Milton, P. L., IX. 1009. As with new Wine intoxicated both [sc. Adam and Eve] They swim in mirth.

1760–73.  H. Brooke, Fool of Qual. (1809), IV. 27. My soul swims in delight.

  10.  To be covered or filled with fluid; to be drenched, overflowed, or flooded. Const. with, in.

a. 1542.  Wyatt, Of Mean & Sure Estate, 7. When the furrowes swimmed with the rayne.

1560.  Bible (Genev.), Ps. vi. 6. I cause my bed every night to swimme.

1560.  Daus, trans. Sleidane’s Comm., 251. While they seke howe to make slaughter in Germanye, and that all thynge maye swymme full of theyr blud, that professe Chryst.

1595.  Locrine, II. v. 66. The currents swift swimme violently with blood.

a. 1658.  Cleveland, Inund. Trent, 86. Some say the Meadows swim, some say they’r drown’d.

1697.  Dryden, Æneid, III. 822. With spouting Blood the Purple Pavement swims.

1709.  Steele, Tatler, No. 104, ¶ 1. To see her Eyes swimming in Tears of Affection.

1711.  Addison, Spect., No. 83, ¶ 1. When the Heavens are filled with Clouds, when the Earth swims in Rain.

1735.  Johnson, Lobo’s Abyssinia, Descr., iii. 54. Every thing they eat smells strong and swims with Butter.

1827.  Lytton, Pelham, liv. Ellen, whose eyes swam in tears, as they gazed upon her brother.

1884.  Gilmour, Mongols, 169. Great parts of the causeway swim with deep black mud.

1891.  Farrar, Darkn. & Dawn, lxvi. The marble floors of the Temple of Jerusalem swam in blood.

  b.  fig. To be full to overflowing with.

1548.  Udall, etc., Erasm. Par. Luke v. 67. Whereas themselfes swimmed as full as theyr skinnes might holde of many great vices.

a. 1614.  D. Dyke, Myst. Self-Deceiuing (1630), 56. The wickeds Table, though swimming neuer so much with dainties.

1676.  Bunyan, Strait Gate, Wks. (1692), 636/2. Beware … of the Man whose Head swims with Notions, but his Life is among the unclean.

1762–71.  H. Walpole, Vertue’s Anecd. Paint. (1786), IV. 297. The eyes swimming with youth and tenderness.

1845.  G. Oliver, Coll. Biog. Soc. Jesus, 76. He tells Dorothy in a letter, that his heart is now swimming with joy.

1895.  Meredith, Amazing Marr., iv. The upper sky swam with violet.

1902.  R. W. Chambers, Maids of Paradise, vi. 93. The room in the turret was now [sc. after the battle] swimming in smoke and lime dust.

  II.  Transitive senses.

  11.  To traverse or cover (a certain distance) by swimming. Also, to perform (a stroke or evolution) by swimming.

c. 1000.  Epist. Alex. ad Arist., in Cockayne, Narrat. Angl. (1861), 10. Þa hie ða hæfdon feorðan dæl þære ea ʓeswummen.

c. 1290.  St. Brendan, 169, in S. Eng. Leg., 224. He suam more þan tuei myle.

a. 1586.  Sidney, Arcadia, II. xxiv. (1912), 306. I had swomme a very little way.

1590.  Shaks., Mids. N., II. i. 174. Be thou heere againe, Ere the Leuiathan can swim a league. Ibid. (1610), Temp., III. ii. 16. I swam, ere I could recouer the shore, fiue and thirtie Leagues.

1848.  Blackw. Mag., Dec., 723/1. Gazing at the gold-fish that swam their monotonous circle in the basin.

1893.  F. M. Crawford, Children of King, I. iv. 114. He could not swim a stroke.

  b.  To glide smoothly through. rare.

1725.  Pope, Odyss., VI. 188. Stately in the dance you swim th’ harmonious maze.

  12.  To pass or cross by swimming; to move in, on, or over by swimming; to swim across.

1591.  Shaks., Two Gent., I. i. 26. You are ouer-bootes in loue, And yet you neuer swom the Hellespont.

1667.  Milton, P. L., I. 202. That Sea-beast Leviathan, which God of all his works Created hugest that swim th’ Ocean stream.

1697.  Dryden, Æneid, IV. 764. Parti-colour’d Fowl, Which haunt the Woods, or swim the weedy Pool.

1746.  Hervey, Medit. (1769), I. 203. All that wing the Firmament, or tread the Soil, or swim the Wave.

1813.  Scott, Rokeby, VI. ii. The otter…, prowling by the moon-beam cool, Watches the stream or swims the pool.

1841.  Elphinstone, Hist. India, I. 617. They swam the river to the spot where the king’s tent was pitched.

  b.  To float on the surface of (water). rare.

1855.  Singleton, Virgil, I. 137.

  13.  To cause (an animal) to swim, esp. across a river, etc.

1639.  T. de Grey, Compl. Horsem., 306. After swim him, and apply bathes.

1714.  trans. Joutel’s Jrnl. Voy. Mexico (1719), 133. Handing over our Goods from one to another, and swimming over our Horses.

1722.  Acts Assembly Pennsylv. (1762), I. 96. For every Cow or other neat Cattle, boated or swam, Three Half-pence.

1818.  Scott, Rob Roy, xxxiii. Sometimes swimming their horses, sometimes losing them and struggling for their own lives.

1890.  Stevenson, Lett. to H. James (1899), II. 213. The place is awkward to reach on horseback. I had to swim my horse the last time I went to dinner.

1903.  Morley, Gladstone, I. ii. 47. How he … swam the Newfoundland dog in the pond.

  † b.  To convey by swimming. Obs. rare.

1613.  Heywood, Brazen Age, I. B 4 b. I’le vndertake to swimme her Vnto the furthest strond, vpon my shoulders.

  c.  To cause (something) to pass over the surface of water; to float.

1743.  Bulkeley & Cummins, Voy. S. Seas, 160. The People swam off three Casks of Water.

1800.  Moore, Anacreon, lii. 5. Teach me this, and let me swim My soul upon the goblet’s brim.

1836.  T. Hook, G. Gurney, I. 38. Two of the boys proceeded to a pond, for the purpose of swimming a gallipot.

  d.  Of a rushing force of water: To carry or sweep away in its course.

1858.  Carlyle, Fredk. Gt., IX. X. (1872), III. 171. Two villages, Fuhrenheim and Sandhausen, it swam away, every stick of them. Ibid. (1865), XX. vii. IX. 129. Reach the bridge before it be swum away.

  14.  To cause to float; to buoy np.

1669.  Sturmy, Mariner’s Mag., V. xii. 81. 5 Tun of Cask will swim a Canon of 8 or 9000 weight.

1779.  Phil. Trans., LXX. 107. This deck … was laid at five feet five inches above the bottom of the keel,… and swam the ship at twelve feet five inches water.

1800.  S. Standige, in Naval Chron., III. 474. Cann Buoys to swim the buoy-rope,… are the most buoyant.

1820.  W. Scoresby, Acc. Arctic Reg., II. 478. We had not before ascertained how far the contrivance of swimming the ship by the ceiling could be depended on.

1842.  Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc., III. II. 303. Steep the seed in brine that will swim an egg.

1854.  Bowlker’s Art of Angling, 58. Put on a cork float sufficiently large to swim a Gudgeon, or large Minnow, at mid-water.

  b.  To put (a person suspected of witchcraft) to the ordeal of being immersed in water, the proof of innocence being that the person did not sink.

1718.  Bp. Hutchinson, Witchcraft, 65. Hopkins [the Witch-finder] went on searching and swimming the poor Creatures.

1748.  in Gentl. Mag., March (1867), 320. Alice, the wife of Thomas Green, labourer, was swam, malicious … people having raised an ill report of her for being a witch.

1818.  Scott, Hrt. Midl., xl. The folk are speaking o’ swimming her i’ the Eden.

1825.  Ann. Reg., Chron., 98/1. A man was swam for a wizard at Wickham-Keith … in the presence of some hundreds of people!

  c.  To furnish sufficient depth of water for (something) to swim or float in.

1815.  Scott, Guy M., ix. We’ll drink the young Laird’s health in a bowl that would swim the collector’s yawl.

1817.  M. Birkbeck, Notes Journ. Amer. (1818), 82. I guess it [sc. the creek] will swim your horse.

1887.  I. R., Lady’s Ranche Life Montana, 25. Wide rivers, very rapid and almost deep enough to swim a horse.

  d.  (See quot.)

1864.  Webster, Swim, v. t. … 2. To immerse in water that the lighter parts may swim; as, to swim wheat for seed.