Meanings
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1
noun
a person who takes part in consensual partner-swapping or group sexual activity
The documentary interviewed swingers about consent and privacy within their community.
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2
noun
a person who swings an object, moves by swinging, or causes something suspended to swing
The censer's swinger controlled its arc with a steady rhythm.
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3
noun
dated: a lively, fashionable, socially confident person
In the 1960s he acquired a reputation as a wealthy international swinger.
Thesaurus
Etymology
An agent noun formed from swing + -er. The literal sense is anyone or anything that swings. Twentieth-century slang developed first for a lively, fashionable person and then for a participant in consensual sexual partner exchange.