▪ I. swivel, n.
(ˈswɪv(ə)l)
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. sw{iacu}fan (see swive) + -el (see -le).]
1. a. 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{ddd}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. 1695 Ibid. 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 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 Cumbld. 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 W. 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,
swivel-bearing,
swivel-bed,
swivel-belt,
swivel-coupling,
swivel-hanger,
swivel-head,
swivel-joint,
swivel-link,
swivel-pipe,
swivel-plate,
swivel-ring,
swivel rocker,
swivel-seat,
swivel-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 J. Belknap Hist. New Hampsh. III. 105 The invention of the swivel-chain. 1825 J. Nicholson Operat. Mech. 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 H. 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. 1916 Blackw. Mag. Oct. 475/1 He walked unsteadily across the room and sat down on a swivel-seat. 1975 Swivel rocker [see saddle brown s.v. saddle n. 12]. |
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 hips Trampolining, an exercise consisting of a seat drop followed by a half-twist into another seat drop (constr.
sing.); also
transf.;
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-plough, a turn-wrest plough;
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. |
| 1765 S. Cibber Let. 3 Oct. in Private Corresp. David Garrick (1831) I. 201, I hope you remember that I have lost poor little *swivel-eye, that was blind, and also that you promised me a dog that could see. 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. |
| 1943 L. Griswold Trampoline Tumbling 49 As the legs are swung through the vertical position, the twist is made to right or left and the hips are flexed to assume the sitting position for landing. The movement performed by the hips is called ‘*swivel hips’. 1948 Ibid. (ed. 2) vi. 46 This exercise—popularly called ‘swivel hips’—consists of a seat-drop take-off, a half twist, and a seat-drop landing. 1964 Trampolining (‘Know the Game’ Series) 22/1 The first one [sc. bounce] to practise is the seat bounce with half twist known as the swivel hips. 1966 Rote & Winter Lang. Pro Football iii. 141/1 Swivel hips, elusive ball carrier who fakes potential tacklers by shifting hips from side to side. 1980 Sci. Amer. Mar. 118/2 An astronaut in space could easily reorient himself in any direction with swivel hips and tuck drops. |
| 1788 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. |
▪ II. ˈswivel, v.1 [f. prec. n.] 1. trans. To turn (something) on or as on a swivel.
| 1794 Sporting Mag. III. 162/2 Our hobs can swivel noses at single stick who fight. 1832 Prop. Regul. Instr. Cavalry ii. 41 The..men..swivel their carbines. 1876 C. D. Warner Wint. Nile xxv. 311 He simply swivels his eye around and brings it to bear on the object. 1879 Cassell's Techn. Educ. IV. 343/1 It swivels or adjusts itself so as to prevent irregular cutting. 1914 J. G. Horner Gear Cutting 89 The tooth flank is swivelled about the apex of the cone of the gear. |
2. intr. To turn or rotate as, or as on, a swivel.
| 1846 Holtzapffel Turning II. 854 If the jaws are closed upon a taper object,..the two parts of the vice swivel horizontally on a joint. 1869 Rankine Machine & Hand-tools Pl. L 4, Each of the lower speed cones, f, is so mounted as to be capable of swivelling about the shaft, e. 1884 Knight Dict. Mech., Suppl. 754/2 A street car mounted on its running gear so as to swivel thereon and turn end for end, dispensing with a turn-table. |
3. trans. To furnish with a swivel; to fasten
to something by means of a swivel.
| 1870 Eng. Mech. 14 Jan. 429/3 Arms swivelled to a revolving disc. 1891 Pall Mall G. 10 Dec. 2/2 The electric current not only rings the alarm bell but also swivels up the harness of the horses that draw the fire-engine. 1901 Daily News 9 Jan. 3/3 The weapons are also fitted with a short sling attached to the ring swivelled on to the fore band of the piece. |
Hence
swivelled (
ˈswɪv(ə)ld)
ppl. a., furnished with a swivel;
ˈswivelling vbl. n. and ppl. a.| 1869 Rankine Machine & Hand-tools Pl. O 4, A suitable swivelling joint being provided to enable the crane to make complete revolutions. 1871 Routledge's Ev. Boy's Ann. Oct. 594 Joined together by a swivelling-pin over the driving-wheel. 1884 F. J. Britten Watch & Clockm. 138 The upper slide is swivelled. 1894 T. W. Fox Mech. Weaving xii. 316 A rack is usually governed by the Jacquard through a cam, a series of links, and an upright shaft, and means are provided for putting the rack out of action whenever it becomes necessary to stop swivelling. 1911 Encycl. Brit. XXVII. 164/1 Modern car bodies are mounted either on a single four-wheeled truck, with a fixed or rigid wheel-base, or on two four-wheeled bogies or swivelling trucks. 1914 J. G. Horner Gear Cutting 168 The swivelling movement of the cutter head. |
▪ III. swivel, v.2 U.S. dial. (
ˈswɪv(ə)l)
[Alt. f. shrivel v.; for an equivalent change of initial shr- to sw-, compare U.S. dial. swimp shrimp.] intr. To shrivel. Also
const. up.
| 1898 ‘R. Sanders’ Sk. Country Life xxv. 155 Sometimes I think to myself if Christmas didn't come reglar onest a year..this old world would soon swivel and swink up and die out with the dry rots. 1957 W. Faulkner Town (1958) vii. 103 Old hermits setting on rocks out in the hot sun..watching their blood dry up and their legs swivelling. |
Hence
ˈswivelled ppl. a.| 1898 ‘R. Sanders’ Sk. Country Life viii. 53, I..filled my pockets full of scalybarks and peanuts and some swivelled up apples of my own raisin. 1938 M. K. Rawlings Yearling xvii. 204 The one we cain't spare was the one was takened... And him a swivveled, no-account thing, too. 1975 E. Wigginton Foxfire 3 258 It'll be a little bitty old swivelled up thing. |