# swing

> English word · Verb · IPA /ˈswɪŋ/ · frequency rank #4,051

## Definitions
1. To rotate about an off-centre fixed point.
2. To dance.
3. To ride on a swing.
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. To move sideways in its trajectory.
7. (of a bowler) To make the ball move sideways in its trajectory.
8. To fluctuate or change.
9. To move (an object) backward and forward; to wave.
10. To change (a numerical result); especially to change the outcome of an election.
11. To make (something) work; especially to afford (something) financially.
12. To play notes that are in pairs by making the first of the pair slightly longer than written (augmentation) and the second shorter, resulting in a bouncy, uneven rhythm.
13. To move one's arm in a punching motion.
14. In dancing, to turn around in a small circle with one's partner, holding hands or arms.
15. To admit or turn something for the purpose of shaping it; said of a lathe.
16. To put (a door, gate, etc.) on hinges so that it can swing or turn.
17. To turn round by action of wind or tide when at anchor.
18. To turn in a different direction.
19. To be sexually oriented.

## Etymology
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.

## Easily confused with
- **Swiss** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/swing-vs-swiss)
- **swipe** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/swing-vs-swipe)
- **swung** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/swing-vs-swung)
- **swirl** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/swing-vs-swirl)
- **swish** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/swing-vs-swish)
- **swings** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/swing-vs-swings)
- **swinger** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/swing-vs-swinger)
- **sin** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sin-vs-swing)
- **sig** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sig-vs-swing)
- **song** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/song-vs-swing)
- **skin** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/skin-vs-swing)
- **sing** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sing-vs-swing)
- **spin** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spin-vs-swing)
- **sink** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sink-vs-swing)
- **swim** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/swim-vs-swing)
- **sang** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sang-vs-swing)
- **sins** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sins-vs-swing)
- **sung** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sung-vs-swing)
- **swan** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/swan-vs-swing)
- **shin** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shin-vs-swing)

## Common misspellings (8)
`siwng`, `sswing`, `swign`, `swingg`, `swinng`, `swnig`, `swwing`, `wsing`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/swing