swill

1 of 3

verb

ˈswil How to pronounce swill (audio)
swilled; swilling; swills
Synonyms of swill

transitive verb

1
: wash, drench
2
: to drink great drafts of : guzzle
swill beer
3
: to feed (an animal, such as a pig) with swill

intransitive verb

1
: to drink or eat freely, greedily, or to excess
2
: swash
swiller noun

swill

2 of 3

noun (1)

1
: something suggestive of slop or garbage : refuse
2
a
: a semiliquid food for animals (such as swine) composed of edible refuse mixed with water or skimmed or sour milk
b
: garbage

swiller

3 of 3

noun (2)

swill·​er
ˈswilə(r)
plural -s
: one that swills

Synonyms of swill

Relevance

Verb

Noun (1)

See All Synonyms & Antonyms in Thesaurus

Examples of swill in a Sentence

Verb She watched the water swill around in the bucket. He swilled the water around in the pot. He swilled the floor with buckets of water. Noun (1) took his daily swill of the foul-tasting medicine I don't know what's in this swill, but I know that I'm not eating it.
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Verb
Vicky Dawson is loopy and judgmental as Becca’s wine-swilling mom Nat. — Pam Kragen, San Diego Union-Tribune, 15 Feb. 2026 There’s the youngest, most freewheeling son’s habit of swilling cold coffee while watching The Gong Show. — Literary Hub, 20 May 2026
Noun
The post-race electrolyte swill tastes like champagne. — Frederick Dreier, Outside, 11 Feb. 2026 Much has been written about the fabled three-martini swill fests of yore, but too little has been made of the eating. — Dan Piepenbring, Harpers Magazine, 24 Mar. 2026 See All Example Sentences for swill

Word History

Etymology

Verb

Middle English swilen, from Old English swillan

First Known Use

Verb

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

Noun (1)

1553, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of swill was before the 12th century

Rhymes for swill

See All Rhymes for swill

Browse Nearby Words

swile
swill
swillbowl
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Swill.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/swill. Accessed 7 Jul. 2026.

Copy Citation

Kids Definition

swill

1 of 2 verb
ˈswil How to pronounce swill (audio)
1
: drench
2
: to drink or eat greedily
3
: to feed (as a pig) with swill
swiller noun

swill

2 of 2 noun
1
: food for animals (as pigs) made from scraps of food mixed with water or skimmed or sour milk
2
: garbage, refuse
3
: swig entry 1

More from Merriam-Webster on swill

Nglish: Translation of swill for Spanish Speakers

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

Commonly Misspelled Words

How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-)
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List

One-Word Oxymorons: Bittersweet, Spendthrift, and More

Ten Words Ending with a Silent ‘T’

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
hangman letters and game
Hangman Lightning Round Figure out which word fits in the blanks.
See All