Emily Dickinson Lexicon

SWIM, v.i. [pret. swam; pp. swum. Sax. swimman; D. zwemmen, to swim; zwymen, to swoon; G. schwemmen, schwimmen; Dan. svimler, svömmer; Sw. svima, to swoon.]

1. To float; to be supported on water or other fluid; not to sink. Most species of wood will swim in water. Any substance will swim, whose specific gravity is less than that of the fluid in which it is immersed.
2. To move progressively in water by means of the motion of the hands and feet, or of fins. In Paris, boys are taught to swim by instructors appointed for that purpose. – Is. xxv. Leap in with me into this angry flood, / And swim to yonder point. – Shak.
3. To float; to be borne along by a current. In all states there are men who will swim with the tide of popular opinion.
4. To glide along with a smooth motion, or with a waving motion. She with pretty and with swimming gait … – Shak. A hov'ring mist came swimming o'er his sight. – Dryden.
5. To be dizzy or vertiginous; to have a waving motion of the head or a sensation of that kind, or a reeling of the body. The head swims when we walk on high.
6. To be floated; to be overflowed or drenched; as, the earth swims in rain. – Spectator. Sudden the ditches swell, the meadows swim. – Thomson. All the night I make my bed to swim; I water my couch with my tears. – Ps. vi.
7. To overflow; to abound; to have abundance. They now swim in joy. – Milton.