▪ I. † swift, n.1 Obs. Naut.
App. = swifter.
Knight Dict. Mech. gives this form with the definitions of swifter a, b, but they seem to be wrongly inferred from the entry swift in Smyth's Sailor's Word-bk.
| 1336–7 Acc. Exch. K.R. 19/31 m. 5 (P.R.O.) In D. Swiftes emptis in Grosso apud lenne de Iohanne de Kynge⁓stone. Ibid., In ij. petris cord. de canabo..pro swifftes et robond inde faciendis. |
▪ II. swift, n.2 (
swɪft)
[subst. use of swift a.] I. 1. The common newt or eft. Now only
dial. b. A name for several swift-running small lizards, as the N. American fence-lizard,
Sceloporus undulatus.
| 1530 Palsgr. 278/2 Swyfte, worme, lesarde. 1559 W. Cuningham Cosmogr. Glasse 173 Venomous beastes, and Wormes, as Ranny, Tode, Eddy, Snack, swift. 1606 N. B[axter] Sydney's Ourania G 3, The Neught, the Swift, lurking in the Roade. 1650 W. D. tr. Comenius' Gate Lat. Unl. §215 The lizzard, the evet, the swift..walk on their feet. 1668 Charleton Onomast. 26 Lacerta Stellio..the Swift. 1848 Zoologist VI. 2186 If you were to ask here [sc. in Norfolk] whether there were any swifts about, you would be told ‘Yes, plenty in the clay-pits’: the only creature known by that name is the water-eft. 1889 [see fence-lizard s.v. fence n. 11]. |
2. A bird of the family
Cypselidæ, comprising numerous and widely distributed species, outwardly resembling swallows (
cf. swallow n.1 2), and noted for their swiftness of flight;
esp. the common swift,
Cypselus apus, a summer visitant to the British Isles and Europe generally.
| 1668 Charleton Onomast. 90 Hirundo Apos Major..the Horse-Marten, or Swift. a 1672 Willughby Ornith. (1678) 214 The black Martin or Swift. Hirundo apus. 1687 Dryden Hind & P. iii. 547 Some Swifts, the Gyants of the Swallow kind. 1769 G. White Selborne, To Pennant 8 Dec., The invariable early retreat of the Hirundo apus, or swift, so many weeks before its congeners. 1866 Darwin Orig. Spec. vii. (ed. 4) 281 One of the swifts of North America makes its nest..of sticks agglutinated with saliva. 1870 Nicholson Man. Zool. (1875) 508 In the Swifts..all four toes are present, but they are all turned forwards. |
b. Name for a breed of domestic pigeons having some resemblance to swifts. Also
swift pigeon.
| 1879 L. Wright Pigeon Keeper 197 Swifts are named from the great resemblance of their long flights and tails to the Martin and Swallow tribe of birds. 1881 Lyell Pigeons 113 The Swift pigeon..is of Eastern origin. |
† 3. A proper name for a swift-running hound.
| 1602 2nd Pt. Return fr. Parnass. ii. v. 904 The Buck broke gallantly: my great Swift being disaduantaged in his slip was at the first behinde. 1677 Coles, Argus..swift, a dogs name, Ulysses's dogs name. |
4. Collectors' name for moths of the genus
Hepialus or family
Hepialidæ, distinguished by their rapid flight. Also
swift moth.
| 1819 G. Samouelle Entomol. Compend. 245 Hepialus Humuli (ghost swift). Hep. Mappa (map-winged swift). Hep. Hectus (golden swift). 1870 Eng. Mech. 21 Jan. 449/3 The subterranean Caterpillars of the Swift Moths. |
II. 5. A light kind of reel, usually of adjustable diameter, upon which a skein of silk, yarn, etc. is placed in order to be wound off. See also
quot. 1878.
| 1564 Inv. in Noake Worcestershire Relics (1877) 13 In the weaving shoppe..ij pare of shuttels a swiste [sic] and a knave to the quiltourne. 1795 W. Hutton Hist. Derby 208 The machine continually turns a round bobbin, or small block of wood, which draws the thread from the slip, while expanded upon a swift, suspended on a centre. The moment the thread breaks, the swift stops. 1805 Godwin Fleetwood xi, The reels, or, as the English manufacturers call them, swifts, which received the silk, as it was devolved from certain bobbins [sic]. 1825 J. Nicholson Oper. Mech. 395 Each of the skeins is extended upon a slight reel called a swift..composed of four small rods, fixed into an axis, and small bands of string are stretched between the arms to receive the skein,..the bands admit of sliding to a greater or less distance from the centre, so as to increase the effective diameter of the reel, according to the size of the skein. 1876 Preece & Sivewright Telegraphy 176 The galvanized iron wire is placed on a simple loose wheel, or ‘swift’. 1878 Cumbld. Gloss., Garn winnels, Swifts, a wooden cross from which yarn is wound off. 1884 W. S. B. M{supc}Laren Spinning (ed. 2) 182 The only objection to this machine is the danger to the workers, for the swift is not stopped with each change of wool. |
b. A cylinder in a carding-machine.
| 1853 Ure Dict. Arts I. 765 The cards employed for tow are machines of considerable weight and importance, the main cylinder, or, as it is sometimes called, ‘swift’, being from 4 to 5 feet diameter. 1888 Encycl. Brit. XXIV. 659/1 The angle stripper passes the wool from the doffer to the next cylinder, which is called a ‘swift’. |
† 6. A rapid current; a rapid.
Obs. rare.
| 1661 Walton Angler xiv. 198 He [sc. the Barbel] is able to live in the strongest swifts of the Water. 1712 Lond. Gaz. No. 5026/6 Another we sunk, who in the swift of the Sea turn'd bottom up. |
7. The sail of a windmill.
dial.| 1763 Mills Pract. Husb. III. 125 By working the bellows with swifts like those of a mill. 1796 Lond. Chron. 21 Jan. 72 As a boy was at play near the windmill belonging to Rye,..the swifts struck him on the head. |
8. Printers' slang. A quick or expeditious typesetter.
| 1841 Savage Dict. Print. 229 Compositors who are expeditious workmen are styled Fire Eaters, and also Swifts. 1896 Indianapolis Typogr. Jrnl. 16 Nov. 405 Owing to the linotype machines, several ‘swifts’ were thrown out of employment. |
III. 9. attrib. and
Comb., as
swift-like adj. or
adv.;
swift moth,
= 4;
swift pigeon,
= 2 b;
swift reel,
= 5;
swift-shrike, a bird of the genus
Ocypterus.
| 1839 Bailey Festus 144, I was at home in Heaven: *Swift⁓like I lived above. |
| 1868 Rep. U.S. Commiss. Agric. (1869) 288 The skeins are slipped upon octagonal, wicker ‘*swift’ reels. |
| 1841 Penny Cycl. XXI. 416/1 The *swift shrikes (Ocypterus, Cuv.), so named from their very long wings. |
▪ III. swift, a. (adv.) Also 1, 4–6
swyft, 1, 3–4 (6
Sc.)
suift, 4–6
swifte, 5–6
swyfte, (4
sweft,
sweyft,
squift,
Ayenb. zuift,
zuyft, 4–5
squyft(e, 5
suyfte,
sqwyft(e,
swyfht, 6
swiyft),
Sc. swuft,
swofte,
suofte, (7
suifte,
Anglo-Ir. shwift(e).
[OE. swift:—prehistoric *swipt-, repr. Indo-eur. root (swoib-) sweib-, swib-: (swoip-), sweip-, swip- to move in a sweeping manner (see swope v. and swive v.) with ppl. suffix -to-. The relations of the following phonologically equivalent forms to each other and to this word are not determinable: WFris. swift adj. restless, disturbed, stormy, swift n. worthless fellow, swindler, LG. swift small lean person, Sw. dial. svift speedy, swift (cf. sviftande instantaneous movement).] A. adj. 1. a. ‘Moving far in a short time’ (J.); moving, or capable of moving, with great speed or velocity; going quickly or at a great rate; rapid, fleet.
| Beowulf 2264 (Gr.) Se swifta mearh. c 888 ælfred Boeth. xxxvi. §3 Ic hæbbe swiðe swifte feþera, þæt ic mæᵹ flioᵹan ofer þone hean hrof þæs heofones. c 1205 Lay. 5902 Þa oðere weoren swifte [c 1275 swihte], heore wepnen weoren lihte. Ibid. 26068 Ardur wes swiftre and of-toc þene eotend. a 1300 Cursor M. 17288 + 186 (Cott.) Peter & Iohne to-geder ran..But Iohne was þe swifter. ? a 1366 Chaucer Rom. Rose 949 The swiftest of these Arowis fyue. c 1375 Cursor M. 3730 (Fairf.) Goddote Am I noȝt so squyft on fote. 1390 Gower Conf. I. 119 The grete hert..Whiche swifte feet sette upon grounde. Ibid. II. 328 A Swalwe swift of winge. c 1450 Holland Howlat 138 The Swallowe so swyft. 1533 Gau Richt Vay 66 Our bodis sal be na mair hewy or sweir bot swuft. 1596 Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. I. 91 Swiftnes of fute, in quhilke thay walde ouirrin the swoftest horse. 1628 Milton Vac. Exerc. 96 Severn swift, guilty of Maidens death. 1667 ― P.L. i. 326 His swift pursuers. 1696 Phillips (ed. 5) s.v., A Planet is said to be swift in Motion, when by its own proper Diurnal Motion, he moves farther than his mean Diurnal Motion. a 1700 Evelyn Diary 7 Mar. 1690, A vessell..built with low decks,..and..so light and swift of sailing, that [etc.]. 1784 Cowper Task iii. 325 Delights which who would leave..For all the savage din of the swift pack, And clamours of the field? 1843 James Forest Days iii, They watched the swift fish darting along the stream. 1852 Mrs. Stowe Uncle Tom's C. xvii. 161, I will..engage him to come behind on his swift nag. |
in similative and proverbial phrases.
| a 1225 Ancr. R. 196 Vre widerwines beoð swifture þen þe earnes. c 1386 Chaucer Prol. 190 Grehoundes he hadde, as swift as fowel in flight. c 1400 Rom. Rose 5024 Present tyme abidith nought, It is more swift than any thought. 1560 Bible (Geneva) Eccl. ix. 11 The race is not to the swift, nor the battel to the strong. a 1593 Marlowe tr. Lucan i. 231 Swifter then bullets throwne from Spanish slinges. 1599 Porter Angry Wom. Abingt. (Percy Soc.) 41 A swift horse will tier, but he that trottes easilie will indure. 1692 Prior Ode Imit. Hor. vi, Fate has swifter Wings than Fear. |
b. Of movement, or action regarded as movement: Taking place or executed at high speed; rapid, quick.
| a 1050 Wærferth's Gregory's Dial. ii. vii. 115 He..mid swiftum [earlier version færlicum] ryne eft ᵹecyrde. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. iii. xvii. (1495) d iv/2 An oore y{supt} semyth broken in y⊇ water for swyft meuinge of y⊇ water. a 1542 Wyatt Song of Iopas 15 With great swift sway, the first [= primum mobile]..Carieth it self. 1606 Shakes. Tr. & Cr. i. i. 119 Troy. But to the sport abroad, are you bound thither? æne. In all swift hast. 1634 Milton Comus 114 The Starry Quire, Who..Lead in swift round the Months and Years. 1662 Playford Skill Mus. i. x. (1674) 33 This Mood..is of two Motions, the one slow, the other more swift. 1784 Cowper Task i. 139 That play of lungs..Respiring freely the fresh air, that makes Swift pace or steep ascent no toil to me. 1851 Carlyle Sterling i. iv, A swift but not very legible or handsome penmanship. 1860 Tyndall Glac. ii. x. 279 The non-coincidence of the point of swiftest motion with the centre of the glacier. 1867 A. J. Wilson Vashti xii, The swift clicking of her knitting-needles. |
2. a. Coming on, happening, or performed without delay; prompt, speedy.
| c 1000 ælfric Hom. I. 618 Se miccla Godes dæᵹ is swiðe ᵹehende and ðearle swyft. 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. xi. 370 Suffraunce is a souereyne vertue, And a swyfte veniaunce. 1603 Shakes. Meas. for M. iv. iii. 107 Make a swift returne, For I would commone with you of such things, That want no eare but yours. 1667 Milton P.L. v. 907 Those proud Towrs to swift destruction doom'd. 1697 Dryden æneid viii. 230 And, when to Morrow's Sun reveals the Light, With swift Supplies you shall be sent away. 1755 Wesley Prim. Physick p. xxi. (Postscr.), It was a great Surprize to the Editor of the following Collection, that there was so swift and large a Demand for it. 1870 Dickens E. Drood iii, She looks up at him with a swift bright look. 1904 R. C. Jebb Bacchylides (Proc. Brit. Acad.) 15 This art of swift transition..was one which Pindar seems to have regarded as peculiarly his own. |
b. Acting, or disposed to act, without delay; prompt, ready. Usually
const. to with inf. or
n.| 1340 Ayenb. 141 Efterward þe milde is wel zuift and wel ingnel. 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 792 He es swyft to spek on his manere. 1382 Wyclif Jas. i. 19 Be ech man swift for to here, forsothe slowe for to speke. c 1477 Caxton Jason 47 b, Ye ben hasty & moche swift in your werkes. c 1586 C'tess Pembroke Ps. lxxxvi. v, Thou, Jehova, swift to grace. 1667 Milton P.L. ix. 633 He..To mischief swift. 1681 Dryden Abs. & Achit. 191 Swift of Dispatch and easie of Access. 1784 Cowper Task ii. 251 All were swift to follow whom all lov'd. 1827 Scott Surg. Dau. ii, Richard is not swift,..but then he is sure. 1847 Helps Friends in C. I. 11 Let us not be swift to imagine that lies are never of any service. 1855 Kingsley Westw. Ho! xxxiii, Crafty of counsel, and swift of execution. |
3. Done or finished within a short time; passing quickly, of short continuance, that is soon over, brief. Chiefly
poet.| a 1225 Leg. Kath. 2156 Þis swifte pine, þet aswikeð se sone. 1590 Shakes. Mids. N. i. i. 144 Swift, as a shadowe; short, as any dreame. 1608 ― Per. iii. i. 13 Lucina,..make swift the pangues Of my Queenes trauayles! 1611 Bible Job vii. 6 My dayes are swifter then a weauers shuttle. 1820 Shelley Sensit. Pl. iii. 22 Swift Summer into the Autumn flowed. 1821 ― Epithal. 7 Hence, swift hour! and thy loved flight Oft renew. 1848 A. B. Evans Leicestersh. Words, Swift, fast consuming: ‘The Snibston coal is very swift.’ |
B. adv. (Now chiefly
poet.)
1. = swiftly 1.
| 13.. E.E. Allit. P. C. 108 He swenges me þys swete schip swefte fro þe hauen. c 1400 Destr. Troy 13299 Full swift to the swalgh me swinget the flode. c 1430 Chev. Assigne 113 Thenne an hynde kome fro þe woode rennynge fulle swyfte. 1596 in Spalding Club Misc. I. 85 Thow..rann..alss swoft, as apperit to him, as ane arrow culd be schot furth of ane bow. 1606 Shakes. Tr. & Cr. ii. iii. 277 Light Botes may saile swift, though greater bulkes draw deepe. 1667 Milton P.L. iii. 714 Swift to thir several Quarters hasted then The cumbrous Elements. 1729 Swift Lett. Irish Coal 23 Oct., The latter [sc. Irish coal] consumed away very swift in a blaze. a 1774 Goldsm. Surv. Exp. Philos. (1776) II. 224 Wood rubbed very swift with a circular motion takes fire. 1781 Cowper Retirem. 435 Then swift descending with a seaman's haste. 1852 Thackeray Esmond i. xiii, A light chaise..running as swift..as a Lap⁓lander's sledge. |
2. = swiftly 2, 3.
† soft swift: ‘not so fast’; ‘don't be too hasty’.
| c 1375 Cursor M. 341 (Fairf.) Al his comandement was done Squyfter [Cott. suiftliker] þan any eye may wynke. 1596 Shakes. Merch. V. iii. ii. 199 My eyes my Lord can looke as swift as yours. 1597 Morley Introd. Mus. 123 Soft swift, you who are so ready to find faultes, I pray you let vs see howe you can mend them. 1667 Milton P.L. vi. 190 A noble stroke..Which hung not, but so swift with tempest fell On the proud Crest of Satan, that [etc.]. 1808 Scott Marm. vi. xxii, Himself he swift on horseback threw. |
¶ Hyphened to
pres. pple. and
occas. to a finite part of a verb, on the analogy of combs. in C. 3.
| 1727 Thomson Summer 490 [588] Swift-shrinking back, I stand aghast. 1729 Savage Wanderer ii. 371 The Roof swift⁓kindles from the beaming Ground. 1735 Somerville Chase i. 109 To rein the Steed Swift-stretching o'er the Plain. 1820 Keats Lamia i. 116 She..Blush'd a live damask, and swift-lisping said [etc.]. 1887 Morris Odyssey xi. 5 Pouring the tear-drops swift-following each on each. |
C. Combinations, etc.
1. Special collocations of the
adj.:
swift cut = speedy cut (
speedy 7); also in names of species of animals distinguished by swift running or flight, as
swift lizard,
swift snake,
swift swallow,
swift tern.
| 1725 Bradley's Fam. Dict. II. 5 Y 4 b/2 If Scabs be under his Knee on the inside, it is the *Swift-Cut, and he will illy endure galloping. |
| 1802 Shaw Gen. Zool. III. i. 251 *Swift Lizard. Lacerta Velox. |
| Ibid. ii. 510 *Swift Snake. Coluber Cursor. |
| 1601 Holland Pliny xi. xlvii. I. 351 That Martinets have feet: like as also the *swift Swallow called Oce. 1817 Stephens in Shaw's Gen. Zool. X. i. 97 Swift Swallow (Hirundo Velox). |
| 1889 H. Saunders Man. Brit. Birds 640 The *Swift Tern. S[terna] bergii of Lichtenstein (S. velox of Rüppell). |
2. Combs. of the
adj.: parasynthetic, as
swift-fated,
swift-handed,
swift-heeled (
= swift-footed),
swift-hoofed (
† swift-hoved),
swift-paced,
swift-streamed,
swift-tongued; also
† swift-flight a., flying swiftly; with other
adjs., expressing a combination of two qualities, as
swift-frightful,
swift-slow. Also
† swift horse running, horse-racing.
| 1723 Blackmore Alfred iii. 559 The *swift-finn'd Racers of the Flood. |
| 1592 Soliman & Pers. i. iii. 42 To change a bullet with our *swift flight shot. |
| 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. iii. v. vi, A thing so incalculable, *swift-frightful. |
| 1840 ― Heroes ii, A *swift-handed, deep-hearted race of men. |
| 1634 Habington Castara i. (Arb.) 43 No suppliant breath Stayes the speed of *swift-heel'd death. 1702 Congreve Ode to Ld. Godolphin viii, Varying anon her Theme, she takes Delight The swift-heel'd Horse to praise. |
| 1615 Chapman Odyss. vi. 149 In the wilde Bores chace; Or *swift-hou'd Hart. |
| 1500–20 Dunbar Poems xxxix. 9 Halking, hunting and *swift horss rynning. |
| 1598 Bp. Hall Sat. iv. iii. 52 Say'st thou this Colt shall proue a *swift-pac'd steed Only because a Iennet did him breed? 1716 Loyal Mourner 69 From swift-paced Time's destructive Power free. 1870 Bryant Iliad II. xiv. 59 For much he feared to offend the swift-paced Night. |
| 1598 Sylvester Du Bartas ii. i. i. Eden 226 Painfull griefes, whose *swift-slow posting pase..our dying life doth chase. |
| 1594 Selimus 2407 Leaving the banks of *swift-stream'd Thermodon. |
| 1746 Francis tr. Hor., Sat. i. vii. 10 The *swift-tongued Barrus. |
3. Combs. of the
adv. with
pples., as
swift-advancing,
swift-burning,
swift-darkening,
swift-declining,
swift-eddying,
swift-falling,
swift-flashing,
swift-flowing,
swift-flying,
swift-gliding,
swift-moving,
swift-posting,
swift-pursuing,
swift-recurring,
swift-revenging,
swift-running,
swift-rushing,
swift-sliding,
swift-sprung,
swift-starting,
swift-stealing,
swift-striding,
swift-swimming.
| 1859 Geo. Eliot A. Bede xxxv, Not knowing where to turn for refuge from *swift-advancing shame. |
| 1834–5 J. Phillips Geol. in Encycl. Metrop. (1845) VI. 592/2 *Swift⁓burning thick coals. |
| 1933 W. de la Mare Fleeting 33 Even the wise..Have smiled with *swift-darkening eyes. |
| 1590 Greene Orl. Fur. i. i, To Tanuis, whose *swift declining flouds [etc.]. |
| 1923 H. Belloc Sonnets & Verse 13 Anchor hold against *swift-eddying time. |
| 1791 Blake French Rev. in Compl. Writings (1972) 141 Aumont, whose chaos-born soul Eternally wand'ring a Comet and *swift-falling fire, pale enter'd the chamber. 1951 W. de la Mare Winged Chariot 38 Swift-falling flower, slowly fretting stone Clock on unheeded those who lie alone. |
| 1855 W. Whitman Leaves of Grass 62 The great gay-pennanted..steamboat.., with her..delicate *swift-flashing paddles. 1930 Blunden Summer's Fancy 44 With swift-flashing hope. |
| 1848 Buckley Iliad 97 A *swift-flowing river. |
| 1605 Sylvester Du Bartas ii. iii. iii. Law 62 A *swift-flying Fame, Which (lately but) from stately Memphis came. 1871 Longfellow Div. Trag. i. ix. 70 The swift-flying vapours hid themselves In caverns. |
| 1715 Pope Iliad iii. 17 *Swift-gliding mists the dusky fields invade. |
| 1872 W. Whitman As Strong Bird on Pinions Free 4 Thee as another equally needed sun, America-radiant, ablaze, *swift-moving, fructifying all. 1955 J. R. R. Tolkien Return of King v. i. 19 He wondered if he was..still in the swift-moving dream in which he had been wrapped. |
| 1610 Drayton Leg. Robt. Normandie xliii, Times *swift posting hours [edd. 1605, 1608 times ne'r-turning howres]. |
| 1785 T. Dwight Conquest of Canäan viii. 188 Once hast thou fled the *swift-pursuing spear, But fled'st in vain. 1948 R. Graves Coll. Poems 1914–47 231 The swift-pursuing reed. |
| 1841 Browning Pippa Passes i. 278 At *swift-recurring intervals. |
| 1590 Greene Orl. Fur. v. i, And neuer sheath thy *swift reuenging swoorde Till..The highest mountaines swimme in streames of bloud. |
| 1538 Elyot, Alipedes, *swyfte runnynge horses. 1833 J. Rennie Alph. Angling 59 The fish more peculiar to swift-running waters. |
| 1625 Milton Death Fair Inf. 67 To turn *Swift-rushing black perdition hence. |
| a 1618 Sylvester Spectacles v, Yon silver Brooks,..Whose smooth *swift-sliding pase Still, still roules down apace. |
| 1935 Kipling King & Sea in Times 17 July 19/4, I opened him all the guile of the seas—Their sullen, *swift-sprung treacheries. |
| 1596 Edw. III, iv. vii. 2 *Swift starting feare Hath buzd a cold dismaie through all our armie. |
| 1669 Sturmy Mariner's Mag. i. ii. 16, I hope to..hear, That the English Mariner will make better use of *swift-stealing Time. |
| 1929 Kipling Poems 1886–1929 iii. 341 One silent, swart, *swift-striding camel, oceanward wending. |
| 1888 Goode Amer. Fishes 78 It is a *swift-swimming fish. |
▸
swift half n. Brit. colloq. an alcoholic drink (often, but not necessarily, a half-pint of beer, lager, etc.),
esp. one intended to be drunk quickly during a brief visit to a public house;
cf. quick one n. at
quick adj. and
n.1 and
adv. Special uses 2.
| 1973 Sunday Gleaner (Kingston, Jamaica) 1 July (Sunday Mag.) 10/3 [London:] Dad cannot invite Prince Phillip for a *swift half in the local or take him along to watch the village football club. 1990 Sunday Times (Nexis) 15 July The Forbidden Fruit is a strong, Belgian beer which is fermented in a bottle (a bottle, incidentally, tastelessly decorated with a picture of Adam and Eve sharing a swift half). 1995 Empire Nov. 111/1 A lascivious evening spent in some shocking, lap-dancing establishment, followed by a swift half in the Viper Room, spiced with off-the-record Hollywood gossip. 2004 T. Turner Failure's Guide to Flirting 44 I'm sure we've all been there—you go for a swift half after work and many hours later you're still in the pub, singing ‘California Dreaming’ and being restrained from standing on the table. |
▪ IV. swift, v.1 Naut. [Owing to the scantiness and the chronological discrepancy of the early evidence, the mutual relation and immediate source of this word, swift n.1, and swifter, cannot be clearly ascertained. They are presumably of Scand. or LG. origin: cf. ON. svipta (ˈsvɪfta) to reef,
sviptingar,
-ingr,
-ungr reefing-ropes,
Du. zwichten to take in (sails), roll up (ropes),
zwichtings,
zwichtlijnen cat-harpings, WFris.
swicht partly or completely furled sail, G.
schwigten to snake two ropes together,
schwigting,
schwigtleine snake-line,
Da. svigte to take in (sail):
prob. allied ultimately to
swift a.]
trans. To tighten or make fast by means of a rope or ropes drawn taut;
e.g. the rigging or masts, the capstan-bars, or a boat or ship by passing a rope round the gunwale, or round the bottom and upperworks, to prevent strain.
Cf. swifter n.| 1485 Naval Acc. Hen. VII (1896) 47 Swyftyng takles..xj. 1487 Ibid. 62 Swiftyng takles..viij. 1495 Ibid. 275 The pollankers and Swifting takles of the foremaste. a 1625 Nomenclator Navalis (Harl. MS. 2301) Swifteing. When wee bring Shipps agrounde, or Careene them, wee vse to Swift the Masts, to ease them and strengthen [them], w{supc}{suph} is done in this manner: they Lash fast all the Pendants of the Swifters, and Tackles, w{supt}{suph} a Roape, close to the Mast, as neare their Blocks as they cann. 1704 J. Harris Lex. Techn. I, Swifting the Capstan-Bars, is straining a Rope all round the outer ends of the Capstan-Bars, in order to strengthen them, and make them bear all alike, and together, when the Men heave or work there. 1799 Hull Advertiser 19 Oct. 2/1 One ship's main-mast, one fore-mast, and one mizen-mast, all swifted together, which were towing at the stern of the brig. 1840 R. H. Dana Bef. Mast xxxv, We were obliged to go aloft upon the ropes and shearpoles with which the rigging was swifted in. 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk. s.v., The rigging is..swifted down preparatory to replacing the ratlines truly horizontal after setting up. 1883 Man. Seamanship for Boys 200 Q. What do you mean by rigging the capstan? A. The bars being shipped, pinned, and swifted in place. |
▪ V. swift, v.2 rare.
[f. swift a.] intr. To move swiftly; to hasten. Now only as
nonce-use.
| a 1618 Sylvester Mem. Mortalitie ii. iv, Time flits as Winde, and as a Torrent swifteth. 1722 Ramsay Three Bonnets iv. 169 Between your houghs gae clap your gelding, Swift hame and feast upon a spelding. 1935 R. Macaulay Personal Pleasures 195 There goes the Atalanta among cars; see how it swifts along, passing all others. |