Etymology From Middle English swift, from Old English swift (“swift; quick”), from Proto-Germanic *swiftaz (“swift; quick”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)weyp- (“to twist; wind around”). Cognate with Icelandic svipta (“to pull quickly”), Old English swīfan (“to revolve, sweep, wend, intervene”). More at swivel.
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Fast; quick; rapid.
swift action
swift response
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swift recovery
The river’s swift current carried the boat downstream.
She gave a swift reply to his question.
Spain were provoked into a response and Villa almost provided a swift equaliser when he rounded Hart but found the angle too acute and could only hit the side-netting.2011 November 12, Phil McNulty, “International friendly: England 1-0 Spain”, in BBC Sport, archived from the original on 25 Jun 2021:
That's what limos do — advertise, and he should have known that. But, as I told you before, officer, he's not too swift.2011, Paul A. Lavallee, Firewatch, page 44:
Etymology From Middle English swift, from Old English swift (“swift; quick”), from Proto-Germanic *swiftaz (“swift; quick”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)weyp- (“to twist; wind around”). Cognate with Icelandic svipta (“to pull quickly”), Old English swīfan (“to revolve, sweep, wend, intervene”). More at swivel.
Light boats sail swift, though greater hulks draw deep.c. 1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Troylus and Cressida”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene iii]:
Ply swift and strong the oar.1793, Robert Southey, Lord William:
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Let no thing escape; / Catch these for me before we all are flown, / Torn, violate, by time’s triumphal rape: / Run swift into the wheeling day; the night / Takes all of us.1945, Charles Edward Butler, “Prelude to My Poem”, in Cut Is the Branch (The Yale Series of Younger Poets; 43), New York, N.Y.: AMS Press, published 1971, →ISBN, page 33:
Etymology From Middle English swift, from Old English swift (“swift; quick”), from Proto-Germanic *swiftaz (“swift; quick”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)weyp- (“to twist; wind around”). Cognate with Icelandic svipta (“to pull quickly”), Old English swīfan (“to revolve, sweep, wend, intervene”). More at swivel.
A small plain-colored bird of the family Apodidae that resembles a swallow and is noted for its rapid flight.
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Any of certain lizards of the genus Sceloporus.
As a guide to start your collection we'd suggest either iguanas, tejus, swifts, basilisks, horned toads or alligator lizards.1965 March, Boys' Life, page 52:
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Biology, Entomology, Natural sciences A moth of the family Hepialidae, swift moth, ghost moth.
Earless ghost swift moths become “invisible” to echolocating bats by forming mating clusters close (less than half a meter) above vegetation and effectively blending into the clutter of echoes that the bat receives from the leaves and stems around them.2013 May-June, William E. Conner, “An Acoustic Arms Race”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 3, pages 206–7:
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Biology, Entomology, Natural sciences Any of various fast-flying hesperiid butterflies.
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Business, Manufacturing, Textiles A light, collapsible reel used to hold a hank of yarn in order to wind off skeins or balls.