Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • intransitive verb To declare; swear. Used in the phrase I swanny as an interjection.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Swanlike.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Swanlike.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Resembling or characteristic of a swan.

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Probably alteration of dialectal (I) s' wan ye, (I) shall warrant ye.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

swan +‎ -y

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Examples

Comments

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  • swan or swanny: meaning "swear" -

    As used in the (Southern?) expressions, "Well, I swan" or "Now, I swanny!"

    According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the word swanny derives from the dialect of the north of England: I s' wan ye, "I shall warrant ye."

    November 11, 2008