swift

From Middle English swift, from Old English swift (“swift; quick”), from Proto-Germanic *swiftaz (“swift; quick”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)weyp- (“to twist; wind around”). Cognate with Icelandic svipta (“to pull quickly”), Old English swīfan (“to revolve, sweep, wend, intervene”). More at swivel.

• IPA^(key): /swɪft/

• Audio (US)

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• Homophone: Swift
• Rhymes: -ɪft

swift (comparative swifter, superlative swiftest)

1. Fast; quick; rapid.
   • 2011 November 12, “International friendly: England 1-0 Spain”, in BBC Sport‎:

     Spain were provoked into a response and Villa almost provided a swift equaliser when he rounded Hart but found the angle too acute and could only hit the side-netting.

2. Capable of moving at high speeds.

swift (plural swifts)

1. A small plain-colored bird of the family Apodidae that resembles a swallow and is noted for its rapid flight.

   Synonyms: needletail, spinetail, swiftlet

2. Any of certain lizards of the genus Sceloporus.

   Synonym: fence lizard, spiny lizard

   • 1965 March, Boys' Life, page 52:

     As a guide to start your collection we'd suggest either iguanas, tejus, swifts, basilisks, horned toads or alligator lizards.

3. (entomology) A moth of the family Hepialidae, swift moth, ghost moth.
4. (entomology) Any of various fast-flying hesperiid butterflies.
   • 2013 May-June, William E. Conner, “An Acoustic Arms Race”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 3, pages 206–7:

     Earless ghost swift moths become “invisible” to echolocating bats by forming mating clusters close (less than half a meter) above vegetation and effectively blending into the clutter of echoes that the bat receives from the leaves and stems around them.

5. (textiles) A light, collapsible reel used to hold a hank of yarn in order to wind off skeins or balls.
6. The main cylinder of a carding-machine.
7. (obsolete) The current of a stream.

swift (comparative more swift, superlative most swift)

1. (obsolete, poetic) Swiftly.
   • c. 1602, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Troylus and Cressida”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene iii]:

     Light boats sail swift, though greater hulks draw deep.

   • 1793, Robert Southey, Lord William:

     Ply swift and strong the oar.

• swith

From the verb swīfan.

• IPA^(key): /swift/

swift (comparative swiftra, superlative swiftost)

1. swift, quick

• swiftlīċe
• swiftnes

• English: swift