swat

B2 Topic:Actions & Processes

US /swɑt/ UK /swɒt/ See IPA manual

Minimal pairs

Sounds like swath /θ/ vs /t/

Meanings

1

verb
to hit or crush something with a quick, sharp blow, often with the hand or an object

He swatted the fly with a newspaper.
2

verb
to make a hoax emergency call so that a SWAT team is dispatched to a victim's address

The streamer was a victim of swatting during a live broadcast.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 verb · to hit or crush something... slap smack strike hit flick

2 verb · to make a hoax emergency... prank callhoaxreport falselymake a false report

Etymology

A dialectal variant of squat/swot, from Proto-Germanic; via Old and Middle English forms meaning 'to strike, hit', into Modern English swat ('to hit with a sharp blow').

Topics

Actions & Processes

External links

# swat

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B2
**Part of speech:** verb
**IPA (US):** /swɑt/
**IPA (UK):** /swɒt/

## Meanings
1. to hit or crush something with a quick, sharp blow, often with the hand or an object
2. to make a hoax emergency call so that a SWAT team is dispatched to a victim's address

## Examples
- He swatted the fly with a newspaper.
- The streamer was a victim of swatting during a live broadcast.

## Synonyms
- slap
- smack
- strike
- hit
- flick
- prank call
- hoax
- report falsely

## Etymology
A dialectal variant of squat/swot, from Proto-Germanic; via Old and Middle English forms meaning 'to strike, hit', into Modern English swat ('to hit with a sharp blow').

## AI Etymology
Swat is a dialectal variant of squat/swot, from Proto-Germanic; via Old and Middle English forms meaning 'to strike, hit', into Modern English swat ('to hit with a sharp blow'). In current use it is a verb meaning "to hit or crush something with a quick, sharp blow, often with the hand or an object". That sense is explained by the older material without requiring a speculative semantic step: the inherited or borrowed base supplies the field of meaning, while the English formation fixes its modern role. The history is mainly one of transmission into English, with the older form and sense carried through borrowing or adaptation. For dictionary purposes, the important point is the continuity between the older form, the route into English, and the present lexical sense.

## Topics
- Actions & Processes

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