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Meaning of swift in English:

swift

Pronunciation /swɪft/

See synonyms for swift

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adjective

1Happening quickly or promptly.
‘a remarkably swift recovery’
- ‘Her eyes quickly made a swift sweep of the people in the room.’
- ‘With his domestic problems and this illness, we all pray for a swift recovery.’
- ‘If Myles is reading this, hope the op went well and wish a swift recovery, looking forward to getting you back on the golf course’
- ‘But following a swift Labour recovery, little has been heard of the pebbledash people.’
- ‘The participants hoped their recommendations would help prompt the state and central governments to take swift action on infrastructure development.’
- ‘Almost as quickly, people began calling for swift action by Baltimore's criminal justice system.’
- ‘Crane quickly reached into my coat and in one swift movement stuffed the papers into his pants chuckling at my disgusted look.’
- ‘Will quickly drew his pistol in a swift wrist motion and shot the man, just like he had seen during duels in many western movies.’
- ‘Imagine my utter surprise when he got off his horse in one swift motion and bowed down in front of me!’
- ‘His swift action meant speedy help for Janet, who has made a full recovery, and also a bravery nomination for Sam, from Heywood.’
- ‘You take swift decisions and make quick changes when situations are tense and demanding.’
- ‘Supporters believe emergency drivers should be exempt from speed limits when lives depend on a swift response.’
- ‘With one swift nod and a quick hand shake, Cannington exited the office The army general was not too sure what to make of this.’
- ‘He floored budding chess players with his swift one-liners like the lightening fast moves he makes on the board.’
- ‘Hopefully being known as ‘Fast’ Eddie DeSoto will enable a swift rise up the greasy Mafia pole. reasons to be cheerful’
- ‘It has turbo technology that commands a swift take-off and has tuned suspensions that were designed for quick and agile moves.’
- ‘Like Fuller and Guderian, de Gaulle advocated a fully professional army, with an armoured corps capable of swift manoeuvres.’
- ‘At the end of the proceedings, Udom demonstrated his strength for the crowd by walking up to a can and giving it a good swift kick sending it flying off into the air.’
- ‘Seen from the side a battle is a struggle and a rivalry between the sides that use artillery fire, swift maneuvers and lightning strikes.’
prompt, rapid, sudden, immediate, instant, instantaneous, without delay, ready, punctual
rapid, quick, brisk, lively, speedy, fast, high-speed, expeditious, express, breakneck, meteoric, whirlwind
View synonyms
1. 1.1Moving or capable of moving at high speed.
  ‘the water was very swift’
  ‘the swiftest horse in his stable’
  ‘The beast is replaced with a thin, swift reptile that is capable taking sharp corners and hiding inside buildings.’
  ‘White and pale camels are much preferred by the men as mounts, especially those which are swift moving, sleek and pleasant to the eye.’
  ‘As one would expect, this is a very swift car, well capable of getting to 60 mph in less than six seconds and with a top speed beyond 150 mph.’
  ‘Much of the opera is swift moving dialogue, but a distinctive feature is Martinu's insertion of slower moving sections.’
  ‘And with that soft promise playing through my mind I relaxed in Michael's arms and wished our journey back to camp swift speed.’
  ‘Kathleen turned around to see that in the distance three men on horseback were riding towards her at a frighteningly swift speed.’
  ‘Putting on a swift burst of speed, he dived low and skimmed the waters of a lake.’
  ‘From the foggy midnight mist came quiet, swift horses, wielding conscienceless armored statues.’
  ‘Thanks to a swift horse powered by a mysterious elixir, he intercepts Domenico, wounding him mortally.’
  ‘During the 1st century ad a special courier service with swift horses was set up to bring fresh lychees from Canton north to the imperial court.’
  ‘It was a messenger, mounted on a slim and swift chestnut horse.’
  ‘Perhaps it was because they knew how to borrow the swift legs of a horse that their own could afford to be slow.’
  ‘The scouts, on their light, swift horses, were racing ahead, but they wouldn't maintain the gap for long.’
  ‘They are swift and speedy, but their style can leave holes to be exploited in the defence.’
  fast, rapid, quick, speedy, fleet-footed, fleet, swift as an arrow, like the wind, like lightning
  View synonyms

adverb

literary

Swiftly.
‘streams that ran swift and clear’
- ‘a swift-moving narrative’

noun

1A swift-flying insectivorous bird with long, slender wings and a superficial resemblance to a swallow, spending most of its life on the wing.
Family Apodidae: several genera and numerous species, in particular the common Eurasian swift (Apus apus)
‘The White-throated Swift is a large, slender swift with long wings and a narrow tail, usually held closed into a point.’
- ‘Data gathered on the acceleration of swifts and swallows illustrate another compromise: Birds with low wing loading and high aspect ratio suffer from lower acceleration performance.’
- ‘Swallows, swifts and nighthawks, all pursuing flying insects, fly erratically.’
- ‘For years, before I had my stoep enclosed with a roof, swallows, swifts and European starlings nested under the eaves.’
- ‘Our every-day experience is of eagles and swifts and other birds so highly evolved for flight that it seems absurd to think they might ever have been specialized for anything else.’
- ‘Barn swallows and house swifts trawl above the water.’
- ‘Layang-Layang island, or Swallows Island, is populated by hundreds of thousands of migratory birds, mainly various species of swallows and swifts.’
- ‘The true shear tips look like the swifts (the bird) wing tips.’
- ‘As a means of escape from his convalescence he began learning about birds and watched swallows and swifts returning from Africa.’
- ‘Birds make territorial calls, swifts and swallows fly by, and then, bats emerge.’
- ‘Banning toxic pesticides has led to a welcome return of the swift winged raptor that suffered a decline in the 1960s from being at the end of the food chain.’
- ‘Yet another time, near the hamlet of Pelayo, I could hardly see the sky because it was filled with common, pallid and alpine swifts, bee-eaters and house martins.’
- ‘This set includes the owls and nightjars, which may have a close relationship to the swifts and hummingbirds.’
- ‘Titmice, chickadees, gnatcatchers, grackles, and swifts came and went.’
- ‘Flyovers were generally excluded, except for those species that normally forage or search for food in flight (e.g. vultures, swifts, and swallows).’
- ‘Wing loading in the paradise tree snake falls between those two extremes, but it's closer to that of the swift.’
- ‘A few notable birds I've seen flying over are a lesser kestrel and some unidentified swifts (probably Common Swifts).’
- ‘So if you do have swallows nesting, keep an eye open for chats and swifts.’
- ‘The great cave behind the falls is the roosting place of hundreds of swifts; at evening they dart in and out of the gorge before braving the torrent to spend the night behind Kaieteur's curtain.’
- ‘Just now the skies are busy with birds; rooks and crows grouping and re-grouping in ragged formation, starlings showing off their flock skills, and swifts silver-arrowing round and round.’
2
(also swift moth)
A moth, typically yellow-brown in colour, with fast darting flight. The eggs are scattered in flight and the larvae live underground feeding on roots, where they can be a serious pest.
Family Hepialidae: Hepialus and other genera
3A light, adjustable reel for holding a skein of silk or wool.
- ‘Illustrated in the book are other articles made in the Dominy shop for family use, such as a wooden bowl made of a burl from an apple tree and a swift to wind wool yarn.’