Читаем Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner’s Dictionary полностью

1 VERB If you swap something with someone, you give it to them and receive a different thing in exchange. □ [V n] Next week they will swap places and will repeat the switch weekly. □ [V n + with ] I'd gladly swap places with mummy any day. □ [V n + for/with ] I know a sculptor who swaps her pieces for drawings by a well-known artist. □ [be V -ed + for/with ] Some hostages were swapped for convicted prisoners. ● N‑COUNT [oft n N ] Swap is also a noun. □  If she ever fancies a job swap, I could be interested.


2 VERB If you swap one thing for another, you remove the first thing and replace it with the second, or you stop doing the first thing and start doing the second. □ [V n + for ] Despite the heat, he'd swapped his overalls for a suit and tie. □ [V n] Both sides swapped their goalies in the 30th minute.

swarm /swɔː r m/ (swarms , swarming , swarmed )


1 N‑COUNT [with sing or pl verb] A swarm of bees or other insects is a large group of them flying together.


2 VERB When bees or other insects swarm , they move or fly in a large group. □ [V prep/adv] A dark cloud of bees comes swarming out of the hive. [Also V ]


3 VERB When people swarm somewhere, they move there quickly in a large group. □ [V prep/adv] People swarmed to the shops, buying up everything in sight. [Also V n]


4 N‑COUNT [with sing or pl verb] A swarm of people is a large group of them moving about quickly. □  Today at the crossing there were swarms of tourists taking photographs.


5 VERB [usu cont] If a place is swarming with people, it is full of people moving about in a busy way. □ [V + with ] Within minutes the area was swarming with officers who began searching a nearby wood.

swarthy /swɔː r ði/ ADJ A swarthy person has a dark face. □  He had a broad swarthy face.

swash|buck|ling /swɒ ʃbʌkl I ŋ/ ADJ If you describe someone or something as swashbuckling , you mean that they are connected with adventure and excitement. □  …a swashbuckling adventure story.

swas|ti|ka /swɒ st I kə/ (swastikas ) N‑COUNT A swastika is a symbol in the shape of a cross with each arm bent over at right angles. It is used in India as a good luck sign, but it was also used by the Nazis in Germany as their official symbol.

swat /swɒ t/ (swats , swatting , swatted ) VERB If you swat something such as an insect, you hit it with a quick, swinging movement, using your hand or a flat object. □ [V n] Hundreds of flies buzz around us, and the workman keeps swatting them.

swathe /swe I ð, [AM ] swɑː ð/ (swathes , swathing , swathed ) The noun is also spelled swath . 1 N‑COUNT A swathe of land is a long strip of land. □  Year by year great swathes of this small nation's countryside disappear.


2 N‑COUNT A swathe of cloth is a long strip of cloth, especially one that is wrapped around someone or something. □ [+ of ] …swathes of white silk.


3 VERB To swathe someone or something in cloth means to wrap them in it completely. □ [V n + in ] She swathed her enormous body in thin black fabrics. □ [be V -ed] His head was swathed in bandages made from a torn sheet.

SWAT team /swɒ t tiːm/ (SWAT teams ) N‑COUNT A SWAT team is a group of police officers who have been specially trained to deal with very dangerous or violent situations. SWAT is an abbreviation for 'Special Weapons and Tactics'. [mainly AM ]

sway /swe I / (sways , swaying , swayed )


1 VERB When people or things sway , they lean or swing slowly from one side to the other. □ [V adv/prep] The people swayed back and forth with arms linked. □ [V ] The whole boat swayed and tipped. □ [V -ing] …a coastal highway lined with tall, swaying palm trees.


Перейти на страницу:

Похожие книги