swim in English: To move through water using your arms and legs. (verb)

Translation

To move through water using your arms and legs.

Word origin

From Old English swimman, meaning to move in water.

Origin: Old English
Root: swimman

Grammar

Verb typeirregular (swim, swims, swam, swum)

Irregular verb. A full conjugation table for irregular verbs is coming soon. For now, use a reference like Wordreference or RAE.

Examples

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"Swim" means to move through water with your body.

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"Swims" is the form used with he, she, or it.

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"Swam" is the past form of "swim".

When you swim, you move through water by pushing with your arms and legs so you do not sink. Fish swim, and people swim in a pool, a river, or the sea.

Related words

fish

An animal that lives in water and swims, with no legs.

river

A long line of water that moves across the land to the sea.

fly

To move through the air, like a bird or a plane.

ride

To sit on a horse, bike, or animal and move with it.

move

To move is to go from one place to another, or to put something in a new place.

drown

To die under water because you cannot breathe.

pool

A place built and filled with water where people swim; also a small amount of liquid lying on a surface.

lake

A large area of water with land all around it.

Where this fits

The 1,000 most common English words

Where this word sits in the core vocabulary, and what to learn around it.

English vocabulary by CEFR level

How many words each level actually needs, with real counts.

Used in

Stories

(1)

The Swimming Lesson
5 min read · Core 5000

Grammar articles

(13)

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