swift
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /swɪft/
homophone: Swift
rhymes: -ɪft
Forms: form: swifts
Etymology: From Middle English swift, from Old English swift (“swift; quick”), from Proto-Germanic *swiftaz (“swift; quick”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)weyp- (“to twist; wind around”). Cognate with Icelandic svipta (“to pull quickly”), Old English swīfan (“to revolve, sweep, wend, intervene”). More at swivel.
Senses: synonyms: needletail
spinetail
swiftlet
glosses: A small plain-colored bird of the family Apodidae that resembles a swallow and is noted for its rapid flight.
examples: text: As a guide to start your collection we'd suggest either iguanas, tejus, swifts, basilisks, horned toads or alligator lizards.
ref: 1965 March, Boys' Life, page 52:
synonyms: fence lizard
spiny lizard
glosses: Any of certain lizards of the genus Sceloporus.
examples: text: Earless ghost swift moths become “invisible” to echolocating bats by forming mating clusters close (less than half a meter) above vegetation and effectively blending into the clutter of echoes that the bat receives from the leaves and stems around them.
ref: 2013 May-June, William E. Conner, “An Acoustic Arms Race”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 3, pages 206–7:
topics: biology
entomology
natural-sciences
glosses: A moth of the family Hepialidae, swift moth, ghost moth.
topics: biology
entomology
natural-sciences
glosses: Any of various fast-flying hesperiid butterflies.
topics: business
manufacturing
textiles
glosses: A light, collapsible reel used to hold a hank of yarn in order to wind off skeins or balls.
glosses: The main cylinder of a carding-machine.
glosses: The current of a stream.
Derived terms: word: Lyell’s swift
word: swiftlike
word: rice swift
word: swiftless
word: swift brick
taxonomic: Apus barbatus
word: African swift
taxonomic: Tachymarptis melba
word: alpine swift
taxonomic: Aeronautes andecolus
word: Andean swift
taxonomic: Chaetura andrei
word: ashy-tailed swift
taxonomic: Chaetura spinicaudus
word: band-rumped swift
taxonomic: Apus batesi
word: Bates's swift
taxonomic: Cypseloides niger
word: black swift
taxonomic: Apus leuconyx
word: Blyth's swift
taxonomic: Apus bradfieldi
word: Bradfield's swift
taxonomic: Chaetura pelagica
word: chimney swift
taxonomic: Apus apus
word: common swift
taxonomic: Apus cooki
word: Cook's swift
taxonomic: Chaetura fumosa
word: Costa Rican swift
taxonomic: Hemiprocnidae spp.
word: crested swift
taxonomic: Apus acuticauda
word: dark-rumped swift
taxonomic: Sceloporus malachiticus
word: emerald swift
word: Eurasian swift
taxonomic: Apus apus
word: European swift
taxonomic: Sceloporus undulatis
word: fence swift
taxonomic: Apus sladeniae
word: Fernando Po swift
taxonomic: Apus berliozi
word: Forbes-Watson's swift
taxonomic: Apus spp.
word: fork-tailed swift
taxonomic: Hepialidae spp.
word: ghost swift
taxonomic: Cypseloides senex
word: great dusky swift
taxonomic: Hepialus humuli
word: great swift
taxonomic: Chaetura cinereiventris
word: grey-rumped swift
taxonomic: Apus affinis
word: little swift
taxonomic: Tachymarptis aequatorialis
word: mottled swift
taxonomic: Hirundapus caudacutus
word: needle-tailed swift
taxonomic: Apus niansae
word: Nyanza swift
taxonomic: Triodia sylvina
word: orange swift
taxonomic: Apus pacificus
word: Pacific swift
taxonomic: Apus pallidus
word: pallid swift
english: Cypsiurus and Tachornis spp.
translation: Cypsiurus and Tachornis spp.
word: palm swift
taxonomic: Sceloporus undulatus
word: pine swift
taxonomic: Sceloporus graciosus
word: sagebrush swift
taxonomic: Apus salimali
word: Salim Ali's swift
taxonomic: Schoutedenapus myoptilus
word: scarce swift
taxonomic: Schoutedenapus schoutedeni
word: Schouteden's swift
taxonomic: Chaetura meridionalis
word: Sick's swift
taxonomic: Cypseloides fumigatus
word: sooty swift
taxonomic: Hirundapus caudacutus
word: spine-tailed swift
taxonomic: Cypseloides cherriei
word: spot-fronted swift
taxonomic: Apodidae spp.
word: swiftlet
taxonomic: Hepialidae spp.
word: swift moth
word: tree swift
taxonomic: Hemiprocnidae spp.
word: treeswift
taxonomic: Cypseloides lemosi
word: white-chested swift
taxonomic: Cypseloides cryptus
word: white-chinned swift
taxonomic: Streptoprocne zonaris
word: white-collared swift
taxonomic: Streptoprocne semicollaris
word: white-naped swift
taxonomic: Aeronautes saxatalis
word: white-throated swift
taxonomic: Aeronautes montivagus
word: white-tipped swift