Definition

1. Noun:

   • A bundle or pack containing personal belongings, especially as carried by a traveler or itinerant worker: A traditional Australian term for a bedroll or pack carried by a person traveling on foot, often a bushman or swagman.
   • Goods or money obtained illegally; stolen property or loot: Slang for valuables acquired through theft or other illicit means.
   • A decorative arrangement of fabric, flowers, or greenery that hangs in a loose curve: A design element where material is draped or hung in a sagging, curved shape for ornamentation.

2. Verb:

   • To sway heavily or unsteadily; to lurch or stagger: To move in an unbalanced, rocking manner.
   • To hang or droop loosely and heavily; to sag: To settle or sink downward from or as if from weight or pressure, losing tautness.

Usage Examples

• Noun:

  • The old swagman shouldered his swag and continued down the dusty track.
  • The thieves divided the swag after the robbery.
  • They decorated the mantelpiece with a garland and swag of pine branches.

• Verb:

  • The overloaded cart began to swag dangerously on the rough road.
  • The old hammock swagged almost to the ground under his weight.

Advanced Usage

• "To have swag" (modern slang): To possess a confident, stylish, or cool attitude or appearance. (Note: This is a distinct, idiomatic usage derived from the noun meaning "loot" or "valuables").
  • He walked into the room like he had all the swag in the world.

Variants and Related Words

• Swagger (verb/noun): To walk or behave in a very confident and typically arrogant way; such a manner of walking.
  • He swaggered up to the bar.
• Swagman (noun): (Australian) A transient laborer who carries a swag.
• Swagging (noun/gerund): The action of the verb, or the technique of creating decorative swags.

Synonyms

• Noun (bundle): Pack, bedroll, kit.
• Noun (loot): Booty, plunder, haul, spoils.
• Verb (sway): Lurch, stagger, wobble, reel.
• Verb (droop): Sag, hang, dip, sink.

Related Phrasal Verbs/Phrases

• Swag out (Australian, informal): To set up camp using a swag.
  • We'll swag out here for the night.

Related Idioms

• "The full swag" (Australian): Everything one owns, carried in a swag.
• "To cut one's swag" (Australian, historical): To prepare to depart.

Noun

1. a bundle containing the personal belongings of a swagman
2. goods or money obtained illegally
3. valuable goods

Verb

1. sway heavily or unsteadily
2. walk as if unable to control one's movements
   • The drunken man staggered into the room
3. droop, sink, or settle from or as if from pressure or loss of tautness