swimming

/swɪmɪŋ/

/ˈswɪmɪŋ/

Other forms: swimmings

Swimming is an activity that involves moving through the water using your arms and legs. One of the best ways to cool off on a hot summer day is swimming in a cold lake or pool.

Swimming is both a casual activity and a serious sport. To you, swimming may involve splashing through the waves or dog-paddling across a public pool. Olympic athletes, on the other hand, swim distances as far as 1500 meters at unbelievable speeds. As an adjective, swimming describes anything that swims or that's used for swimming, like a swimming hole. You can also poetically describe a crying person's eyes as "swimming with tears."

Definitions of swimming

1. noun

   the act of swimming
   synonyms: swim

   types:

   bathe

   the act of swimming

   skinny-dip

   a naked swim

   dip, plunge

   a brief swim in water

   dive, diving

   a headlong plunge into water

   floating, natation

   the act of someone who floats on the water

   skin diving, skin-dive

   underwater swimming without any more breathing equipment than a snorkel

   dead-man's float, prone float

   a floating position with the face down and arms stretched forward

   belly flop, belly flopper, belly whop, belly whopper

   a dive in which the abdomen bears the main force of impact with the water

   cliff diving

   diving into the water from a steep overhanging cliff

   flip

   a dive in which the diver somersaults before entering the water

   full gainer, gainer

   a dive in which the diver throws the feet forward to complete a full backward somersault and enters the water feet first and facing away from the diving board

   half gainer

   a dive in which the diver throws the feet forward and up to complete a half backward somersault and enters the water facing the diving board

   jackknife

   a dive in which the diver bends to touch the ankles before straightening out

   swallow dive, swan dive

   a dive in which the diver arches the back with arms outstretched before entering the water

   scuba diving

   skin diving with scuba apparatus

   snorkel diving, snorkeling

   skin diving with a snorkel

   type of:

   aquatics, water sport

   sports that involve bodies of water
2. adjective

   applied to a fish depicted horizontally
   synonyms: naiant

   horizontal

   parallel to or in the plane of the horizon or a base line
3. adjective

   filled or brimming with tears
   “swimming eyes”

   synonyms: liquid

   tearful

   filled with or marked by tears