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PlainSpell

swipe

/swaɪp/verb, noun

swipe is spelled S-W-I-P-E: 5 letters and one syllable. It appears 3.8 times per million words in written English, the 13,321st most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, swipe means “To grab or bat quickly” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in swipe?

Letters5: S-W-I-P-E
Syllables1 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing3.8 times per million words; the 13,321st most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search

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).

How common is swipe?

Swipe appears 3.8 times per million words in written English, the 13,321st 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 swipe?

  • /swaɪp/

Swipe 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-swipe.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Forms of swipe

  • swipes present, singular, he/she/it, plural
  • swiping participle, present
  • swiped participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does swipe mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

verb

  1. 1

    To grab or bat quickly.

    The cat swiped at the shoelace.

  2. 2

    To strike with a strong blow in a sweeping motion.

  3. 3

    To scan or register by sliding (a swipecard etc.) through a reader.

    He swiped his card at the door.

  4. 4

    To interact with a touch screen by drawing one's finger rapidly across it.

    Swipe left to hide the toolbar.

  5. 5

    informalTo swipe right on (someone) on a dating application.

  6. 6

    informalTo steal or snatch.

    Hey! Who swiped my lunch?

  7. 7

    obsoleteslangTo drink.

noun

  1. 1

    A quick grab, bat, or other motion with the hand or paw; a sweep.

  2. 2

    A strong blow given with a sweeping motion, as with a bat or club.

  3. 3

    An act of interacting with a touch screen by drawing the finger rapidly across it.

  4. 4

    An act of passing a swipecard through a card reader.

  5. 5

    informalA rough guess; an estimate or swag.

    Take a swipe at the answer, even if you're not sure.

  6. 6

    informalAn attack, insult or critical remark.

    The politician took a swipe at his opponents.

  7. 7

    Poor, weak beer or other inferior alcoholic beverage; rotgut.

  8. 8

    An instance of swiping, a kind of ellipsis. See swiping.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Swipe in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchchoper, attraper (to grab quickly), glisser (to slide through a reader), faire glisser, swiper (to interact with a touch screen), voler (to steal or snatch)
Germanschnappen (to grab quickly), einlesen, durchziehen (to slide through a reader), wischen (to interact with a touch screen), klauen, stibitzen (to steal or snatch)
Spanishdeslizar, pasar (to slide through a reader), afanar, chorizar, robar (to steal or snatch)
Portuguesedeslizar (to interact with a touch screen), surripiar, surrupiar (to steal or snatch)

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 swipe come from?

From earlier swip (with a short vowel), from Middle English swippen, swype (“to move violently”), from Old English sweopian, swipian, swippan (“to scourge, strike, beat, lash”), from Proto-West Germanic *swippjan, *swipōn, *swipēn, from Proto-Germanic *swipōną, *swipjaną, *swipāną (“to move”), from Proto-Indo-European *sweyb- (“to bend, sway, swing, sweep, swerve, turn”). Cognate with German schwippen (“sway back and forth”), Danish svippe (“to smack; crack a whip”), Icelandic svipa (“riding crop, whip”). Related to sweep, swoop.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after swipe