swing
/ˈswɪŋ/verb, noun
swing is spelled S-W-I-N-G: 5 letters and one syllable. It appears 22 times per million words in written English, the 4,015th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, swing means “To rotate about an off-centre fixed point” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in swing?
| Letters | 5: S-W-I-N-G |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 22 times per million words; the 4,015th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is swing?
Swing appears 22 times per million words in written English, the 4,015th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce swing?
- /ˈswɪŋ/
Swing has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-swing.ogg, En-au-swing.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with swing?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as swing.
Spelled with the same letters in another order: wings.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of swing
- swings present, singular, he/she/it, plural
- swinging participle, present
- swung past, participle
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does swing mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To rotate about an off-centre fixed point.
The plant swung in the breeze.
- 2
To dance.
- 3
To ride on a swing.
The children laughed as they swung.
- 4
To participate in the swinging lifestyle; to participate in wifeswapping.
- 5
To hang from the gallows; to be punished by hanging, swing for something or someone; (often hyperbolic) to be severely punished.
- 6
(of a bowler) To make the ball move sideways in its trajectory.
- 7
To move sideways in its trajectory.
- 8
To fluctuate or change.
It wasn't long before the crowd's mood swung towards restless irritability.
noun
- 1
The act, or an instance, of swinging.
- 2
The manner in which something is swung.
He worked tirelessly to improve his golf swing.
- 3
The sweep or compass of a swinging body.
- 4
A line, cord, or other thing suspended and hanging loose, upon which anything may swing.
- 5
A hanging seat that can swing back and forth, in a children's playground, for acrobats in a circus, or on a porch for relaxing.
- 6
An energetic and acrobatic late-1930s partner-based dance style, also known as jitterbug and lindy-hop.
- 7
The genre of music associated with this dance style.
- 8
The amount of change towards or away from something.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you abbreviate swing?
Wiktionary records one abbreviation of swing: SW.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Swing in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | osciller, se balancer, balancer , swinguer , balancement , balançoire |
| German | schwingen, schaukeln, schwanken , Schaukel , swingen , baumeln |
| Portuguese | balançar , balanço, baloiço, balouço , andar de baloiço , swing |
| Spanish | balancear, mecerse, bambolear, bambalear, bambonear, bambanear |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does swing come from?
From Middle English swyngen, from Old English swingan, from Proto-West Germanic *swingan, from Proto-Germanic *swinganą (compare Low German swingen, German schwingen, Dutch zwingen, Swedish svinga), from Proto-Indo-European *swenk-, *sweng- (compare Scottish Gaelic seang (“thin”)). Related to swink.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).