Forms: 4 swyuel, swewyl, suawel(le, 5–6 swevill(e, -yll, -ell, (5 swefel, sewevelle), 5–7 swivell, 6 swyuell, swyvle, (swyffvyll), 7 swyvile, 7–8 swivle, 8 swyvil, swivil, (9 Sc. sweevil), 7– swivel. β. 6 Sc. swele, 7 sweell. γ. 6 Sc. sowl, swoll, swoul, 9 soul, sooal, etc. [f. weak grade swif- of OE. swífan (see SWIVE) + -el (see -LE).]
1. A simple fastening or coupling device made so that the object fastened to it can turn freely upon it, or so that each half of the swivel itself can turn independently; e.g., a ring or staple turning on a pin or the like.
1307–8. Acc. Exch. K. R., Bd. 14. No. 14 (P.R.O.). In quodam haunser empto … pro dicta masta tractanda, iiij.s. viij.d. … in vno swyuel de ferro empto … pro dicta Masta, .x.d.
1330. Chancellor’s Roll 123 m. 20 dorso, In … uno swyvel de ferro … pro dicta bargia.
1353. in Pipe Roll 32 Edw. III., m. 36. Pro factura de .iij. Swyuels pro towagio ij. mast[orum] de hortepole et .j. masti de scharburghe. Ibid., 36/1 dorso, De .j. ancre cum vno suawel sine anulo in capite.
1411. Nottingham Rec., II. 86. iij. swefels, ijd.
1424–5. Foreign Accounts 59 m. 26. De j ferro vocato swevill de novo facto ad towandum quoddam malum grossum.
1426–7. Rec. St. Mary at Hill, 66. For a key & a swevyll to þe chirche dore vij d.
1482–4. Acc. Exch. K. R., Bd. 496. No. 28 (P. R. O.). Cymenting barres Swevilles Steybarres pro fenestris.
1502–3. in C. Kerry, Hist. St. Lawrence, Reading (1883), 53. A bolte and a swevyll to the trendyll.
1525. MS. Acc. St. John’s Hosp., Canterb. Payd for ij swevyllys for calues ij d.
1535. MS. Rawl. D. 777, lf. 84 b. A new swyffvyll ffor the buket of the said well.
1575. Turberv., Faulconrie, 173. Take a small corde of the bignesse of a bowstring or little more, put it through a ring and binde it about the stone, in such sorte that the ring or swyvle may go rounde about the stone, without any stoppe or lette.
1598. Florio, Accialino,… the swiuell of a chaine.
1651. T. Barker, Art of Angling (1653), 4. Two hairs twisted for the bottom … with a Swivel nigh the middle of your line.
1672. T. Venn, Milit. Discipl., 8. He is to have a good Harquebuz, hanging on a Belt, with a swivel.
1682. Lond. Gaz., No. 1710/4. A Ger Faulkon of the King’s,… having one of the King’s Varvels upon one Leg, and a Brass Swivel upon the other. Ibid. (1695), No. 3070/4. Lost…, a Steel Chain and Swivles of the same, belonging to a Watch, having the Key and two Seals upon the Swivles.
1791. Smeaton, Edystone L., § 126. Two 40 fathom chains were to be joined together by one of the loops of the large swivel,… one of the anchors … being laid to the westward … from the swivel.
1802. James, Milit. Dict., Swivels,… commonly called Loop and Swivel, and Guard and Swivel,—Two iron rings attached to a musquet, through which the sling passes.
1887. Hardy, Woodlanders, I. iii. 44. He carried a horn lantern which hung upon a swivel, and, wheeling as it dangled, [etc.].
β. 1502. Swele [see 4].
1688. R. Holme, Armoury, III. xviii. (Roxb.), 134/2. A carbine … is hung by the mans side in a belt ouer his left shoulder, and vnder his right Arme: with a sweell or sweeth vpon it, which by the help of a spring in it, taks hold of a ring, on a side bar … screwd on the stock.
γ. 15[?]. Lichtoun’s Dream, 64, in Bann. MS., lf. 101 b. Thair tedderis wer maid weill grit to graip, With silkin schakillis and sowlis [Maitland MS. swollis] of quhyte saip.
c. 1536. Lyndesay, Compl. Bagsche, 202. Thocht ȝe be cuplit all to gidder With silk, and swoulis of syluer fyne.
1878. Cumbrld. Gloss., Sooals, a swivel joint in a chain, commonly termed a pair of sooals.
fig. 1775. Sheridan, Rivals, IV. iii. T’other [eye] turned on a swivel, and secured its retreat with a frown!
1836. I. Taylor, Phys. Theory, xvi. 208. That the sun is the mere lamp and hearth of the planetary system or only the swivel of its revolutions.
b. spec. A pivoted rest for a gun, esp. on the gunwale of a boat, enabling it to turn horizontally in any required direction.
1697. Dampier, Voy. round World (1699), 30. She had 4 Patereroes, and some long Guns plac’d in the Swivel on the Gunnel.
1745. P. Thomas, Jrnl. Anson’s Voy., 288. She had … twenty-eight Brass Patareroes … mounted on Swivels on the Gun-walls.
1878. A. H. Markham, Gt. Frozen Sea, i. 4. They were both provided with harpoon guns fixed on swivels in the bows.
2. Short for swivel-gun: see 4 b.
1748. Anson’s Voy., II. iv. 169. Four four pounders, and two swivels.
1761. Ann. Reg., Chron., 97/2. The Vainqueur of 10 guns, 16 swivels, and 90 men.
1816. Tuckey, Narr. Exped. R. Zaire, iii. (1818), 109. On his landing I saluted him with four swivels.
1876. Bancroft, Hist. U.S., IV. xxxv. 573. At daybreak it was boarded by the provincials, who carried off four four-pounders and twelve swivels.
3. A kind of small shuttle used in ribbon-weaving, etc. (Cf. swivel-loom in 4 b.)
1894. T. W. Fox, Mech. Weaving, XII. 313. If the two systems are compared as to beauty of effect, variety of detail, and general excellence of workmanship, swivels are vastly superior to lappets. Ibid., 314. Swivels have been made in power-looms for upwards of twenty years, but they are still, to a large extent, produced on hand-looms.
4. attrib. and Comb.: in names of various parts of machinery, etc. = forming or connected with a swivel, so as to turn on some other part or allow it to turn, as swivel-bar, -bearing, -bed, -belt, -coupling, -hanger, -head, -joint, link, -pipe, -plate, -ring, -table, etc.; also swivel-like adj. and adv.
1502. Acc. Ld. High Treas. Scot., II. 46. For ane elne gray damas to be ane swele belt for hir credill, xxijs.
1725. Fam. Dict., s.v. Windmill, That the Handle or Rod of the Bucket, be so made, that it may, swivel-like, turn any way.
1769. Falconer, Dict. Marine (1780), s.v. Moorings, To this swivel-link are attached the bridles, which are short pieces of cable.
1792. Belknap, Hist. New Hampsh., III. 105. The invention of the swivel-chain.
1825. J. Nicholson, Operat. Mechanic, 56. The gives … should not be immovably fixed to the arms, but hung by a swivel joint.
1838. Civil Eng. & Arch. Jrnl., I. 263/1. One of these guns will be placed forward, and the other aft,… on sliding swivel beds.
1844. Stephens, Bk. Farm, II. 534. A carriage of a nearly triangular form is very generally adopted, the apex being in front over the swivel bar. Ibid., III. 1103. The end … is furnished with ferule and swivel-ring.
1856. ‘Stonehenge,’ Brit. Rural Sports, 255. The Single Swivel-Trace consists of about 12 inches of gut or gimp, with a hook-swivel at one end.
1869. Rankine, Machine & Hand-tools, Pl. P 4. A swivel bearing fixed in the arms of the quadrants. Ibid., P 11. Connected to the mains by elastic pipes or swivel couplings.
1875. Knight, Dict. Mech., Swivel-joint, a section in a chain or a joint on a rod, which allows the parts to twist without kinking or distortion.
1908. Westm. Gaz., 17 Oct., 12/2. The eyes of the chameleon … appear to be mounted on ball-sockets, that act in a swivel-like manner.
b. Special Combs.: swivel-bridge, a swing-bridge; swivel-chair, a chair the seat of which turns horizontally on a pivot; † swivel-engine = swivel-loom; swivel eye colloq. or slang, a squinting eye (cf. 1775. in 1 fig.); an eye that rolls in its socket; hence swivel-eyed a., squint-eyed, squinting; swivel-gun, a gun or cannon, usually a small one, mounted on a swivel (sense 1 b) so as to turn horizontally in any required direction; swivel-hook, a hook fastened to something, e.g., a pulley-block, by means of a swivel; hence swivel-hooked a.; swivel-loom, ? a loom having swivels (sense 3) on the batten, used in ribbon-weaving; swivel-plow, a turn-wrest plow; swivel-shuttle, = sense 3; swivel-weaving, weaving with a swivel-shuttle; so swivel-weft.
1754. Pococke, Trav. (Camden), II. 66. The Wye [= Wey], over which there is a long *swivil bridge which turns with one hand.
1848. Dickens, Dombey, ix. A little canal near the India Docks, where there was a swivel bridge which opened now and then to let some wandering monster of a ship come roaming up the street like a stranded leviathan.
1858. Merc. Marine Mag., V. 124. The Swivel Bridge across the New Cut at Swansea Harbour.
1884. Howells, Silas Lapham (1891), I. 22. Lapham … lifted his bulk up out of his *swivel-chair.
1795. J. Aikin, Manchester, 163. Ingenious mechanics [were] invited over to construct *swivel engines.
1865. Dickens, Mut. Fr., II. xii. She found herself possessed of what is colloquially termed a *swivel eye…. She was not otherwise positively ill-looking.
1896. A. D. Coleridge, Eton in Forties (1898), 174. He glared with his swivel eye at the congregation.
1781. C. Johnston, Hist. J. Juniper, I. 21. Some witch or fairy … must have stolen away her own child … and left this *swivel-eyed elf in his place.
1889. Conan Doyle, Micah Clarke, 244. Your blue-coated, gold-braided, swivel-eyed, quarter-deckers.
1712. E. Cooke, Voy. S. Sea, 125. I went away in our Pinnace, with … a *Swivel-Gun in the Boat.
1748. Anson’s Voy., II. v. 179. The Commodore ordered … a swivel gun-stock to be fixed in the bow.
1769. Cook, Voy. round World, I. x. (1773), 102. I mounted six swivel guns upon the fort, which I was sorry to see struck the natives with dread.
1846. Greener, Sci. Gunnery, 283. The longest duck or swivel guns.
1788. T. Jefferson, Writ. (1859), II. 379. Hook the instrument by its *swivel hook.
1844. H. Stephens, Bk. Farm, I. 425. The draught swivel-hook is attached to the shackle.
1883. Man. Seamanship for Boys, 136. Fall Blocks, for Top-Tackle Pendants, Are iron-bound, *swivel-hooked blocks.
1795. J. Aikin, Manchester, 175. Some attempts have been made to work a number of looms together by machinery. The first was upon the introduction of *swivel-looms, about thirty years since.
1875. Knight, Dict. Mech., Swivel-loom, a kind of loom (formerly) used for the weaving of tapes and narrow goods. Ibid., *Swivel-plow.… Known in England as a turn-wrest plow; in the United States as a Side-hill Plow.
1894. T. W. Fox, Mech. Weaving, XII. 314. In power-looms, *swivel shuttles are fitted in a movable carrying frame attached to the front of a slay. Ibid. *Swivel-weaving consists in adding ribbon shuttles to an ordinary loom in such a manner that they can be held out of the way, dropped upon the race board, and moved under lifted warp at pleasure. Ibid., VI. 162. This machine makes imperfect cloth, because ground weft floats under the figure in precisely the same manner as *swivel weft.
