Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- v. To move with a hissing or whistling sound, as a whip.
- v. To rustle, as silk.
- v. To cause to make a swishing sound.
- v. To strike or cut with a swishing sound.
- v. To whip with a rod.
- n. A sharp whistling or rustling sound: the swish of scythes.
- n. A movement making such a sound.
- n. A rod used for flogging.
- n. A stroke made with such a rod.
- n. Offensive Slang Used as a disparaging term for a homosexual man.
- adj. Informal Fashionable; posh: "a swish pastry shop on the Rue du Bac” ( Julia Child).
- adj. Slang Effeminate.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- To flog; lash.
- To flourish; brandish; make quick, cutting motions with; switch.
- To affect by swishing: as, to swish off the heads of flowers with a cane.
- To move, or make a movement, with a swash or flourish, or with a sound like the washing of small waves on the shore, or of swift movement through the air, of which the word swish is imitative.
- n. A sound as of water lapping the shore, or of swift movement through the air; a rustling.
- n. A swish-broom.
- In a swishing manner, or with a swishing sound; with a swish.
Wiktionary
- adj. sophisticated; fashionable; smooth.
- adj. effeminate.
- n. A short rustling, hissing or whistling sound, often made by friction.
- n. A sound of liquid flowing inside a container.
- n. A movement of an animal's tail
- n. A twig or bundle of twigs, used for administering beatings; a switch
- n. A successful basketball shot that does not touch the rim or backboard.
- n. An effeminate male homosexual.
- v. To make a rustling sound while moving.
- v. To make a shot, as a perfect swish.
GNU Webster's 1913
- v. To flourish, so as to make the sound
swish . - v. To flog; to lash.
- v. To dash; to swash.
- n. A sound of quick movement, as of something whirled through the air.
- n. Light driven spray.
WordNet 3.0
- v. move with or cause to move with a whistling or hissing sound
- n. a brushing or rustling sound
- adj. elegant and fashionable
Etymologies
- Imitative.
Examples
“He saw nothing; but heard lively breathing, and a _swish, swish, swish_; next, a weak, mewlike cry.”
“He heard the repeated and rapid _swish, swish, swish_, of wavelets driven against the float, which rose and fell gently beneath his feet.”
“Jackson opened the third quarter with a swish from the top of the key to tie the game.”
“He had three assists, including a sweet one from underneath that resulted in a 3-point swish from a wide-open Chauncey Billups.”
“And there was a windy sound, a thin swish followed by a crisp and hollow contact.”
“Taping the rim the guards should be able to shoot the ball blind folded … hearing the sound of the swish is a beautiful thing.”
“Until I get the knack of sewing, I'm using camouflage as my ally. :pIronically, one of my first projects was a Regency gown no "swish" there in cream silk!”
“The moment is powerful and pungent, and it carries with it the sight and sound and feel of possibilities both real and imagined; the "swish" of ball hitting net for the first time as a clapping, bounding five-year-old dreams of becoming the next Michael Jordan; the red haze of a sunset bleeding into the greens of a forest on an aspiring artist's debut canvas ...”
The Wall Street Journal: In the Matter of George W. Bush v. the Constitution
“And when these things kind of swish into the south, it kind of forces them down, kind of putting a lid on it and naturally they don't want to do that.”
“But a kind of swish, like a frog kicking off from a muddy bank.”
Middlesex
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘swish’.
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Imprecise Units of Measurement
A list of terms for units of measurement that are less than exact, such as dessert-spoonful.
two shakes, dessert-spoonful, a pinch, a bit, some, smidge, smidgin, dollop, drop, fleck, smack, sprinkling and 168 more...
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Onomatopoetic
words (seemingly) formed in imitation of a natural sound
plash, guff, woof, splash, crash, pow, crack, bang, whoosh, whizz, whallop, fizz and 116 more...
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Sounds
words that describe sound
atchoo, atishoo, babble, bam, bay, beep, blast, blather, bleat, bleep, blip, bong and 241 more...
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sound (quiet)
words for quiet sounds
( randomness, descriptive )sigh, murmur, whisper, whir, rustle, patter, hum, snap, hiss(sss), crackle, bleat, peep and 185 more...
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Nerd Acronyms
Just geek acronyms minus initialism.
unix, wysiwyg, wopr, sonar, radar, linux, scsi, rom, ram, sim, swish, toad and 22 more...
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onomatopoeias (1 syllable)
1 syllable words that mean what they sound like. (dictionaried or un-dictionaried words | onomatopoeic in nature)
onomatopoeias (2 syllable) | onomatopoeias (3+ syllables)gush, buzz, pop, woof, boo, bam, bang, bash, bump, clang, clap, click and 86 more...

tbtabby Nothing but net! Oct 10, 2008
rolig "It was July. In the large, dull house they were imprisoned by the swish and gurgle and all the hundred sounds of rain."
– John Collier, the opening of "Wet Saturday", Fancies and Goodnights Jan 27, 2008