swan

¹

[ swon ]

noun

1. any of several large, stately aquatic birds of the subfamily Anserinae, having a long, slender neck and usually pure-white plumage in the adult. Compare mute swan, trumpeter swan, whistling swan, whooper swan.
2. a person or thing of unusual beauty, excellence, purity, or the like.
3. Literary. a person who sings sweetly or a poet.
4. Swan, Astronomy. the constellation Cygnus.

swan

²

[ swon ]

verb (used without object)

1. Midland and Southern U.S. Older Use. to swear or declare (used with I ):

   Well, I swan, I never expected to see you here!

Swan

³

[ swon ]

noun

1. Sir Joseph Wilson, 1828–1914, British chemist, electrical engineer, and inventor.

Swan

¹

/ swɒn /

noun

1. SwanSir Joseph Wilson18281914MEnglishSCIENCE: physicistSCIENCE: chemist Sir Joseph Wilson. 1828–1914, English physicist and chemist, who developed the incandescent electric light (1880) independently of Edison

Swan

²

/ swɒn /

noun

1. a river in SW Western Australia, rising as the Avon northeast of Narrogin and flowing northwest and west to the Indian Ocean below Perth. Length: about 240 km (150 miles)

swan

³

/ swɒn /

noun

1. any large aquatic bird of the genera Cygnus and Coscoroba, having a long neck and usually a white plumage: family Anatidae, order Anseriformes
2. rare.
   1. a poet
   2. ( capital when part of a title or epithet )

      the Swan of Avon (Shakespeare)

verb

1. informal.
   intr; usually foll by around or about to wander idly

Derived Forms

• ˈswanˌlike, adjective

Other Words From

• swanlike adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of swan¹

First recorded before 900; Middle English, Old English; cognate with German Schwan, Old Norse svanr

Origin of swan²

1775–85, Americanism; probably continuing dial. (N England) I s'wan, shortening of I shall warrant

Word History and Origins

Origin of swan¹

Old English; related to Old Norse svanr, Middle Low German swōn

Example Sentences

Reporting on Project 2025, the Heritage Foundation’s nearly 1,000-page prescription for a second Trump presidency, written primarily by former office holders in the first Trump administration, New York Times reporters Jonathan Swan, Charlie Savage and Maggie Haberman report that Trump “and his associates” plan to “increase the president’s authority over every part of the federal government that now operates, by either law or tradition, with any measure of independence from political interference by the White House.”

From Salon

Also in attendance were Klum’s daughter, Leni, who also dressed up as an alien, Kelsea Ballerini and boyfriend Chase Stokes decked out as Danny and Sandy from “Grease,” Nicole Scherzinger as her blood-soaked “Sunset Boulevard” character and TikToker Charli D’Amelio as a “Black Swan” ballerina.

From Los Angeles Times

Tuilagi notched up another assist moments later, powering past both Carter and McCaw to throw the ball wide for an onrushing Chris Ashton to mark England's dominance with his trademark swan dive.

From BBC

So White hatched his final plan, recruiting his publicist to send his now-fiancée a fake invitation to a business dinner with Anna Wintour at the Golden Swan restaurant in New York City.

From Los Angeles Times

Learna Cheng, who is also known as Lea-Rose, stabbed 39-year-old Dylan Bacon inside her flat in Old Swan, Liverpool, on 14 March 2022.

From BBC