Meanings
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1
verb
to lose consciousness briefly, especially because of weakness or intense emotion
Overcome by the heat, she began to swoon and was helped into a chair.
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2
verb
to be overcome with admiration, delight, or romantic excitement
Fans swooned over the actor's return to the stage.
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3
noun
a fainting spell or a state of overwhelming emotion
He caught her before she fell in a swoon.
Thesaurus
Etymology
From Middle English swounen, ultimately from Old English geswogen ('insensible') and swogan ('to make a sound or suffocate'), from a Germanic base associated with groaning or heavy breathing. The romantic sense developed from fainting under intense emotion.