Definition

1. Noun:

   • The act, sport, or skill of moving through water by moving the body, especially the arms and legs: The activity or sport of propelling oneself through water.
   • The sensation or condition of appearing to move or spin, often due to dizziness: A dizzy or reeling sensation.

2. Adjective:

   • Filled or covered with or as if with a liquid; brimming: Often used to describe eyes filled with tears.
   • Relating to, used for, or engaged in the act of swimming: Pertaining to the activity.

Usage and Examples

• Noun:
  • Swimming is excellent exercise for your entire body. (The activity of moving through water is beneficial.)
  • After spinning around, a feeling of swimming came over her. (She experienced a dizzy sensation.)
• Adjective:
  • Her swimming eyes revealed her deep emotion. (Her eyes were filled with tears.)
  • The swimming team practices every morning at the pool. (The team that engages in the sport.)

Advanced Usage

• "In the swimming": Actively involved in the main current of events or a particular situation.
  • After her promotion, she was finally in the swimming of corporate decision-making.
• As a gerund (verbal noun): Used to form compound nouns for activities or locations.
  • Swimming lessons are essential for water safety. (Lessons for learning the skill.)
  • The swimming pool was crowded. (The pool designed for the activity.)

Variants and Related Words

• Swim (verb): To propel oneself in water.
• Swimmer (noun): A person or animal that swims.
• Swimmy (adjective, informal): Slightly blurred or dizzy.
• Swimmingly (adverb): Progressing smoothly and successfully.

Synonyms

• Noun (for the activity): Bathing, paddling.
• Adjective (for eyes): Teary, watery, liquid, brimming.
• Adjective (for sensation): Dizzy, reeling, spinning.

Related Phrases and Idioms

• Sink or swim: To fail or succeed entirely by one's own efforts.
  • On his first day, with no training, it was a case of sink or swim.
• Swim against the tide/current: To act or behave in a way that is opposite to what most other people are doing.
  • Promoting environmental policies then was like swimming against the tide.
• In the swim (of things): Involved in or aware of current events and trends.
  • After her vacation, it took her a week to get back in the swim of office life.

Adjective

1. applied to a fish depicted horizontally
2. filled or brimming with tears
   • swimming eyes
   • sorrow made the eyes of many grow liquid

Noun

1. the act of swimming
   • it was the swimming they enjoyed most: they took a short swim in the pool