swipe
nounEtymology From earlier swip (with a short vowel), from Middle English swippen, swype (“to move violently”), from Old English sweopian, swipian, swippan (“to scourge, strike, beat, lash”), from Proto-West Germanic *swippjan, *swipōn, *swipēn, from Proto-Germanic *swipōną, *swipjaną, *swipāną (“to move”), from Proto-Indo-European *sweyb- (“to bend, sway, swing, sweep, swerve, turn”). Cognate with German schwippen (“sway back and forth”), Danish svippe (“to smack; crack a whip”), Icelandic svipa (“riding crop, whip”). Related to sweep, swoop.
7 senses
- 1A quick grab, bat, or other motion with the hand or paw; a sweep.
- 2A strong blow given with a sweeping motion, as with a…
- 3An act of interacting with a touch screen by drawing the…
- 4An act of passing a swipecard through a card reader.
- 5A rough guess; an estimate or swag.
- 6An attack, insult or critical remark.
- 7Poor, weak beer or other inferior alcoholic beverage; rotgut.
A quick grab, bat, or other motion with the hand or paw; a sweep.
A strong blow given with a sweeping motion, as with a bat or club.
Computing, Engineering, Graphical user interface, Mathematics, Natural sciences, Physical sciences, Sciences An act of interacting with a touch screen by drawing the finger rapidly across it.
- Some New Yorkers are moving beyond the swipe to venture into flirtatious panel discussions and speed dating sessions.2020 April 18, Alyson Krueger, “Virtual Dating Is the New Normal. Will It Work?”, in The New Yorker:
An act of passing a swipecard through a card reader.
- Owning a car in New York City is seen as a liability by many, especially when a quick Uber ride or the swipe of a MetroCard can easily get you where you need to go.2020 March 13, Ronnie Koenig, “Parking So Prime, the Car Is Optional”, in The New Yorker:
Informal A rough guess; an estimate or swag.
- Take a swipe at the answer, even if you're not sure.
Informal An attack, insult or critical remark.
- The politician took a swipe at his opponents.
- Biden‘s Twitter account then acknowledged the swipe, quote-tweeting Sanders shortly after the debate saying, “I’ve worked my whole life to overcome a stutter. And it’s my great honor to mentor kids who have experienced the same. It’s called empathy. Look it up.”2019 December 20, Abbey Marshall, “Sarah Sanders apologizes after mocking Biden’s stutter”, in Politico:
1 more example
- Harry took a swipe at the palace's response to a story published in 2020 suggesting the Sussexes were leaving the royal family because William had bullied them out.2022 December 15, Jack Royston, “Prince Harry throws more accusations at Prince William than ever before”, in Newsweek:
Poor, weak beer or other inferior alcoholic beverage; rotgut.
- Woozy with swipe was the only way I could stay down with patience for work.1984, Ronald T. Takaki, Pau Hana: Plantation Life and Labor in Hawaii, 1835-1920, →ISBN, page 134:
- JJ: Did a lot of people drink? KP: Down here, oh yeah, a lot of them made their own swipe, their own potato and pineapple swipe.1990, Charles Langlas, James Ahia, The People of Kalapana, 1823-1950:
2 more examples
- Sung Wha knows it's pineapple swipe they are drinking. Hoping that they might sell him some of the stuff, he approaches them with the dollar bill out. One worker, sucking on a fat, wet stub of a cigar, waves off the offer and shakes his head: no we aren't selling the swipe, the swipe is for us to drink and enjoy.1998, Gary Pak, Pak: A Ricepaper Airplane, →ISBN, page 73:
- Only the nights—of sitting out in the moonlight drinking the horrible tasting swipe and talking, the thinking about women —remained unchanged.2012, James Jones, The World War II Trilogy, →ISBN:
- Derived terms
- sideswipe, swipe card, swipe file