swan hopping

A corruption of swan-upping that is, the ceremony or proce of marking swans belonging to the crown, London companies or guilds, the University of Oxford, ., which is annually performed by making a cut or mark upon the upper mandible with a knife or other sharp instrument. swan-like, a. Like a swan. "Then, if he lose, he makes a swan - like end, Fading in music." swan-maiden, s. Shakesp.: Merchant of Venice , iii. 2. Anthrop.: A supernatural being in the shape of a swan, fabled to have the power of a uming the figure of a beautiful young woman, by taking off the swan-coat or swan-shift. Many of these swan maidens are said to have contracted marriage with men who had obtained power over them by getting po e ion of the swan-coat or swan-shift, but if the swan-maiden recovers this from her husband, swan-păn, 8. [SHWANPAN.] swan-skin, s. [ Eng.swan, and skin.] 1. The skin of a swan with the feathers on. 2. A kind of fine-twilled flannel. 3. A kind of woolen blanketing used by letterpre printers and engravers. swan-wõrt, s. [Eng. swan, and wort. Named because the column is long and curved like the neck of a swan.] Bot.: Cycnoches, a genus of Orchids. Called also Swan-neck and Swan-flower. About eleven species are cultivated in European hot-houses, ten from the warmer parts of America, and one from Singapore. swap, adv . [ Ger.schwapp =a blow, also as interj. slap! smack!) Hastily; on a sudden; with sudden or hasty violence. ( Prov .) swap, *swappe, v. t. & i. [A variant of sweep, v. (q. v.); cf. Icel. sveipja =to sweep, to swoop.] A. Transitive: *1. To strike, as with a sweeping stroke. " Swap of his hed."- Chaucer : C. T., 15,834. 2. To exchange, to barter, to swop. "A couple of quaint little female Holland ers swapping dolls."-London Daily Telegraph. B. Intransitive: *1. To move swiftly; to rush. "Beofs to him swapte ."- Layamon , 26,775. 2. To fall completely down. 3. To ply the wings with a sweeping noise. 4. To swop, to barter. pine, pit, sire, sir, marine; gō, pot, IMG:content-0661.png:[blocks in formation] 1. A bucket on the end of a line from a balanced pole which rests on a post. It has been employed for forty centuries in Egypt, and is represented on the temples and tombs of that country. The well pole and oaken bucket are yet common in this country in rural districts. 2. A sconce, or light-holder. 3. A pump-handle. 4. A long oar. or sweep. *swappe, v . t . & i. [SWAP, v .] swârd, *swart, *swarde, *sweard, *swerd, *sworde, subst . [A. S. sweard =the skin of bacon; cogn. with Dut. zwoord skin of bacon; Icelandic svõrdhr skin, hide, sward; jardhar - svördhr = earth sward; gra võrdr = gra -sward; Dan. flesksvær = flesh-sward, skin of bacon; gronsværd = greensward; Ger. schwarte rind, bark, skin.] *1. A skin, a covering, rind. "Brandish no swords but sweards of bacon!" Brewer: Lingua, ii. 1. 2. Turf; the gra y surface of land; that part of the soil which is filled with the roots of gra ; when covered with green gra it is called green sward. IMG:content-0662.png:[blocks in formation] 1. Iron filings. 2. The grit worn away from grindstones used in grinding cutlery wet. ( Prov .) swârf (2), 8. [SWARF, v.] A fainting-fit; a swoon, stupor. ( Scotch.)