swig
/swɪɡ/ verb, noun
Forms swigs swigging swigged
- verb To drink (usually by gulping or in a greedy or unrefined manner); to quaff. “That sailor can swig whisky with the best of 'em.”
- verb (obsolete) To suck.
- verb (nautical) To take up the last bit of slack in rigging by taking a single turn around a cleat, then hauling on the line above and below the cleat while keeping tension on the line.
- noun (obsolete) Drink, liquor.
- noun (by extension) A long draught from a drink. “take a swig of whisky”
- noun (obsolete) A person who drinks deeply.
- noun (nautical) A tackle with ropes which are not parallel.
- noun Warm beer flavoured with spices, lemon, etc.
Synonyms
chug gulp guzzle quaff sweating draught sip swill draft slug slog
Etymology
Unknown, mid 16th c. Perhaps connected with Old English swelgan (“to swallow”).
Webster’s 1913
- verb To drink in long draughts; to gulp; as, to swig cider. [Colloq.]
- verb To suck. [Obs. or Archaic]
- noun A long draught. [Colloq.] Marryat.
- noun A tackle with ropes which are not parallel.
Etymology [Cf. D. zwelgen to swallow, E. swallow, v.t.]
Etymology [Cf. Prov. E. swig to leak out, AS. swijian to be silent, swican to evade, escape.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “swig”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details