MEANING
1. To drink quickly, greedily, or in large amounts.
2. To rinse or wash something with a generous flow or movement of liquid.
3. Liquid regarded as unpleasant or of very poor quality.
Use it for
Words that belong together
- swill beer
- swill from a bottle
On the page
They swilled cheap beer while arguing over the abandoned plan.
Nearby words
Word forms
- Base
- swill
- Past tense
- swilled
- Past participle
- swilled
- Present participle
- swilling
Full tense & aspect guide
- Present
- swill
- Present continuous
- am/is/are swilling
- Present perfect
- have/has swilled
- Present perfect continuous
- have/has been swilling
- Past
- swilled
- Past continuous
- was/were swilling
- Past perfect
- had swilled
- Past perfect continuous
- had been swilling
- Future
- will swill
- Future continuous
- will be swilling
- Future perfect
- will have swilled
- Future perfect continuous
- will have been swilling
Choose the auxiliary that agrees with your subject. These are constructions of one word, not separate entries.
Usage notes
Primary category: literary / elevated general. Forms: swill; swills; swilled; swilled; swilling. Noun use is uncountable. Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Established modern English lexical item. No separate regional spelling or grammatical inflection entry. Commonness: moderately common. Third-person singular: swills.
Practice this word in a sentenceYour margin notes
Keep a thought for later. Sign in to save privately.