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Added 9 October 2026

swipe

/swaɪp/ verb

In Latin: scandere Wiktionary

verb Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about swipe at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

To grab or bat quickly.
The cat swiped at the shoelace.
To strike with a strong blow in a sweeping motion.
To scan or register by sliding (a swipecard etc.) through a reader.
He swiped his card at the door.

noun

A quick grab, bat, or other motion with the hand or paw; a sweep.
A strong blow given with a sweeping motion, as with a bat or club.
An act of interacting with a touch screen by drawing the finger rapidly across it.

Origin

From earlier swip (with a short vowel), from Middle English swippen, swype (“to move violently”), from Old English sweopian, swipian, swippan (“to scourge, strike, beat, lash”), from Proto-West Germanic *swippjan, *swipōn, *swipēn, from Proto-Germanic *swipōną, *swipjaną, *swipāną (“to move”), from Proto-Indo-European *sweyb- (“to bend, sway, swing, sweep, swerve, turn”). Cognate with German schwippen (“sway back and forth”), Danish svippe (“to smack; crack a whip”), Icelandic svipa (“riding crop, whip”). Related to sweep, swoop.

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

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