Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner's English Dictionary - swim

(swims, swimming, swam, swum) Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English. 1. When you swim, you move through water by making movements with your arms and legs. She learned to swim when she was really tiny... I went round to Jonathan’s to see if he wanted to go swimming... He was rescued only when an exhausted friend swam ashore... I swim a mile a day. VERB: V, V, V adv/prep, V amount/n • Swim is also a noun. When can we go for a swim, Mam? N-SING 2. If you swim a race, you take part in a swimming race. She swam the 400 metres medley ten seconds slower than she did in 1980. VERB: V n 3. If you swim a stretch of water, you keep swimming until you have crossed it. In 1875, Captain Matthew Webb became the first man to swim the English Channel. VERB: V n 4. When a fish swims, it moves through water by moving its body. The barriers are lethal to fish trying to swim upstream. VERB: V adv/prep, also V 5. If objects swim, they seem to be moving backwards and forwards, usually because you are ill. Alexis suddenly could take no more: he felt too hot, he couldn’t breathe, the room swam. VERB: V 6. If your head is swimming, you feel unsteady and slightly ill. The musty aroma of incense made her head swim. = spin VERB: V 7. sink or swim: see sink