▪ I. swipe, n.1
(swaɪp)
Also 7 swype.
[app. local variant of swape n. or sweep n.]
A contrivance of the form of a lever for raising a weight, esp. for raising water; = sweep n. 23, 24, 26. (Cf. swafe n. 3, swape n. 3, swip n.2)
| 1600 Holland Livy xxiv. xxxiv. 533 He devised a crane or swipe to be planted aloft upon the wals, having at the one end, which hung over the sea, a drag or grappling hooke of yron like an hand,..which tooke hold upon the proo of a gallie, [etc.]. 1611 Cotgr., Bascule, a swipe, scoope, or put-gally to draw vp water withall. 1661 Blount Glossogr. (ed. 2), Swepe or Swipe [ed. 1656 Sweep], was an instrument of war; like that which Brewers use with cross beams to draw water. 1699 Potter Antiq. Greece iii. xvi. 143 ἀντλίον, ἄντλον, in Latin, haustrum, tolleno, or tollena, &c. a Swipe, or Engine to draw up Water. 1706 Phillips (ed. Kersey), Swipe, an Engine to draw up Water; also another sort to throw Granadoes. a 1825 Forby Voc. E. Anglia, Swipe, the lever or handle of a pump. 1852 Burn Naval & Milit. Dict. (1863) s.v., Swipe or bar of a sluice-gate with a counter-poise. 1905 Sat. Rev. 15 July 82/2 The ‘swipe’ of British brickfields. |
b. attrib.: swipe-beam, the counterpoise lever of a drawbridge.
▪ II. swipe, n.2
(swaɪp)
Also 9 swype.
[? local variant of sweep n. and therefore partly identical with prec.]
I. † 1. An instrument used in cutting peas: see quot. dial. Obs.
| 1750 W. Ellis Mod. Husb. IV. v. 41 [They cut pease] with their two instruments, called, in the hither part of this country, next London, swipe and pix: with the pix, or picks, a man hawls a parcel to him with his left hand, and cuts them with the swipe in the other hand. |
2. a. A heavy blow; spec. a driving stroke made with the full swing of the arms, in cricket or golf; transf. one who makes such a stroke. colloq.
| a 1807 J. Skinner Amusem. Leis. Hours (1809) 42 Francie Winsy steppit in,..Ran forrat wi' a furious din, And drew a swinging swype. 1825 C. M. Westmacott Eng. Spy I. 32 With the cricketers he was accounted a hard swipe, an active field, and a stout bowler. 1862 Pycroft Cricket Tutor 44 The favourite swipe is sure to be risked. 1886 Field 4 Sept. 377/1 In driving for Tel-el-Kebir [a golf-hole], Kirk had a long swipe off the tee. 1893 Furnivall Three Kings Sons i. Forewords p. v, In all the battles, no one is split in two; no one has his head clean cut off at one swipe. |
b. (a) A row or line of corn as it falls when mown; = swath1 3. (b) A streak or stripe produced as if by swiping.
| 1869 Blackmore Lorna D. xxix, Three good swipes he cut of corn, and laid them right end onwards. 1890 Advance (Chicago) 24 Apr., A long swipe of dirt across her dimpled cheek. |
3. A copious draught. dial.
| 1866 Gregor Banffs, Gloss. Addit. |
II. [Miscellaneous senses of uncertain affiliation.]
4. A groom or stableboy. U.S. slang.
| 1929 S. Anderson in Mercury Story Bk. 221, I had taken a job as swipe with one of the two horses Harry was campaigning. 1954 W. Faulkner Fable 178 He hasn't got any money... What little there might have been, that cockney swipe threw away long ago on whores and whisky. |
5. An objectionable person; also, such persons considered collect. slang.
| 1929 D. H. Lawrence Pansies 138 And do you think it's my business to be handing out money to a lot of inferior swipe? 1944 J. Devanny By Tropic Sea & Jungle xviii. 163 Some swipe has lost the fishing lines. 1951 R. Park Witch's Thorn xiv. 177 His tormentors leapt off him... ‘Bloody little swipes!’ said Mr Mate Solivich. |
6. The penis. slang (U.S. Blacks).
| 1967 ‘I. Slim’ in T. Kochman Rappin' & Stylin' Out (1972) 389 Slim, pimping ain't no game of love, so prat 'em and keep your swipe outta 'em. |
Add: [II.] 7. An electronic device for reading information magnetically encoded on a credit card, identity card, etc., usu. incorporating a slot through which the card is passed. Chiefly attrib., esp. in swipe card, a card for use in such a device. Cf. *swipe v. 5.
| 1983 Amer. Banker 15 Mar. 17/1 A direct debit system that links a ‘swipe’ card reader and PIN (personal identification number) pad to an electronic cash register. 1986 Ibid. 29 Oct. 7/4 Nixdorf Computer Ltd., Hounslow, England, has announced a new identification unit and swipe card reader for users of its 8812-based retail computer systems. 1990 Observer 22 Apr. 35/6 An electronic swipe automatically clears the transaction. 1991 Flight Internat. 9 Oct. 28/1 The advent of seatback screens, already being tested by several airlines, will lead to the provision of telephone and fax services with interactive computer screens being used to sell merchandise through credit-card ‘swipe’ technology. 1992 Gazette (Imperial College) June 3/2 The Mechanical Engineering building will only be open to those with the appropriate ‘swipe card’. |
▸ fig. A criticism, an antagonistic or provocative remark; (also) a try, an attempt, esp. at solving a problem. Freq. in to take a swipe at.
| 1892 Chicago Daily Tribune 15 Apr. 2/3 Jay Hubbell took a swipe at the proposition and it was laid on the table. The convention then adjourned. a 1930 D. H. Lawrence Last Poems (1932) 296 The gawky choir Of critical cherubs that chirrup and pipe In the weekly press their self-satisfied swipe. 1975 U.S. News & World Rep. 23 June 39 France is taking another broad swipe at inflation. 1987 S. Barr & J. Poppy Flame xxviii. 225, I tried anyway, with another of my earnest swipes at explaining what I did for a living. 2002 Outlook (New Delhi) 23 Sept. 24/1 The RJD chief..found the moment opportune to take a swipe at his political rival. |
▪ III. swipe, v.
(swaɪp)
[? partly local variant of sweep v., partly f. swipe n.2]
1. trans. and intr. To drink hastily and copiously; to drink at one gulp. (Cf. sweep off, sweep v. 6 b.) slang or colloq.
| 1829 Brockett N.C. Words (ed. 2), Swipe, to drink off to the very bottom. 1876 Whitby Gloss., Swipe, v. to drink the whole at one draught. ‘Swipe it off.’ 1890 ‘R. Boldrewood’ Col. Reformer (1891) 134 At the public, he talks a deal more than he swipes. |
2. intr. a. (See quot. 1825.) Sc. b. To strike at with the full swing of the arms; chiefly in cricket (see swipe n.2 2).
| 1825 Jamieson, To Swipe, v.n. 1. To move circularly, Lanarks. 2. To give a stroke in a semicircular or elliptical form, as when one uses a scythe in cutting down grass, S. 1857 Chambers' Inform. II. 690/2 Always treat them [sc. ‘shooting-balls’] entirely on the defensive in preference to ‘swipeing away’ at them blindly. 1857 Hughes Tom Brown ii. viii, The first ball of the over Jack steps out and meets, swiping with all his force. 1869 Routledge's Ev. Boy's Ann. 638 Wilson was now as bold as a lion, swiping at every ball. |
c. trans. To deal a swinging blow or hit at (esp. in cricket).
| 1851 W. Clarke in W. Bolland Cricket Notes vii. 148 Some would shut their eyes at a fast one, but might perchance swipe away a slow one for four. 1881 Leicestershire Gloss., Swipe, v.a., to hit anything a heavy blow, as a cricket-ball, &c. 1886 Trans. Amer. Philol. Assoc. XVII. 45 A vulgar but strong expression in the South for a severe beating is, ‘He swiped up the very earth with him’, or ‘He swiped the whole thing out’—in these cases meaning about the same as sweep. 1888 Sheffield Gloss. s.v., The bat is swung round horizontally, and not in the usual way. A cricketer would say ‘he fairly swiped it off his wicket’. |
3. intr. and trans. = sweep v. 17.
| 1881 Times 22 Dec. 3/6 The men went out for the purpose of swiping for anchors. 1883 G. C. Davies Norfolk Broads xl. (1884) 314 Rusty anchors which have been ‘swiped’ up out of the deep. 1893 H. T. Cozens-Hardy Broad Norfolk 77 Swiping, raising old anchors for an Admiralty reward. |
4. trans. To steal, ‘appropriate’; to loot. slang (orig. U.S.).
| 1889 Seattle Post-Intelligencer 5 Dec. 8/1 ‘By adopting this method,’ said the merchant, ‘we can stand back and laugh at their vain attempts to ‘swipe’ our goods.’ 1890 Barrère & Leland Slang Dict., Swipe (American), to appropriate. Frequently said of actors or exhibitors who take the stage jokes of others, and pass them off for their own. 1896 Boston (Mass.) Jrnl. 5 Nov. 10/1 There must have been something of interest in the newspaper,..for I notice that somebody has swiped ours. 1900 Kipling in Daily Mail 23 Apr. 4/5 He was in luck. Had helped ‘swipe’ a Boer wagon overturned by our shell fire. 1936 Wodehouse Laughing Gas xxii. 238 You expect me, do you, not only to act as a stooge for you in front of the camera, but to sit smiling in the background while you horn in and swipe my interview. 1946 ‘S. Russell’ To Bed with Grand Music ii. 27 Is there another drink going before you swipe the lot? 1970 T. Roethke Let. (1970) 10 June 263 That beautiful Greek anthology you sent me some student swiped. 1982 Verbatim Autumn 3/1 The hero gallantly sets out to recover the item, which he does after much derring-do—climbing walls, crawling through windows, swiping addresses out of locked desk drawers. |
Hence ˈswiping vbl. n.
| 1833 in G. W. Ormerod Ann. Teignbridge Cricket Club (1889) 14 And when he's in the swiping mood, My stars! how Johnny works 'em! 1860 Jas. Thomson in H.S. Salt Life (1889) ii. 39 O it's then we're on the loose, and the swiping grows profuse, And we drink rivers, lakes, and seas. 1862 Pycroft Cricket Tutor 47 As to the Drive, (1) avoid ‘Swiping’, or hitting the ball in the air. 1883 G. C. Davies Norfolk Broads clxi. (1884) 314 The process of raising the anchors is called ‘swiping’. |
Add: 5. trans. To pass (a credit card, identity card, etc.) through an electronic device in order to read and process data magnetically encoded on it. Cf. *swipe n.2 7, *wipe v. 1 e.
| 1986 Chain Store Age Jan. 92/2 When a cashier accepts payments by a VISA credit card, for example, he presses the VISA button on the CAT and swipes the card through the automatic card reader. 1989 Austral. Transport & Distribution Managem. Dec. 16/2 To order a courier, the terminal operator ‘swipes’ a special company plastic card through a reader in the terminal which then automatically dials the computer centre. 1991 Offshore Engineer Sept. (Norway Offshore Suppl.) 18/2 Platform personnel do not need to take any action—such as swiping cards through readers—in order to be logged by the system. 1993 Options Aug. 86/1 Your fitness is assessed and the results transferred by computer to a key card. You then swipe this through the weight machines and they are automatically pre-set for you. |