swan
To travel or move about in an aimless, idle, or pretentiously casual wayTo travel or move about in an aimless, idle, or pretentiously casual way.
» The ugly duckling turned into a beautiful swan.
Das hässliche Entlein wurde ein schöner Schwan.
Гадкий утёнок стал прекрасным лебедем.
Гадкий утёнок превратился в прекрасного лебедя.
Гидке каченя стало прекрасним лебедем.
Meaning
2 senses(intransitive)To travel or move about in an aimless, idle, or pretentiously casual way.
(US, colloquial, dialectal)To declare (chiefly in first-person present constructions).
- sweep majestically
- move about aimlessly or without any destination, often in search of food or employment
- to declare or affirm solemnly and formally as true
Examples
43 sentencesThe ugly duckling turned into a beautiful swan.
Гидке каченя стало прекрасним лебедем. — aandrusiak
ruГадкий утёнок стал прекрасным лебедем. — shanghainese
deDas hässliche Entlein wurde ein schöner Schwan. — faehrmann
There used to be a pond here where you could see many swans.
Are all swans white?
ruВсе лебеди белые? — marafon
deSind alle Schwäne weiß? — thomasvw
Not all swans are white.
ruНе все лебеди белые. — alik_farber
deNicht alle Schwäne sind weiß. — Esperantostern
An ugly duckling became a graceful swan.
Гидке каченя стало прекрасним лебедем. — aandrusiak
Origin
From Middle English swan, from Old English swan, from Proto-West Germanic *swan, from ProtFrom Middle English swan, from Old English swan, from Proto-West Germanic *swan, from Proto-Germanic *swanaz (“swan”, literally “the singing bird”), from Proto-Indo-European *swonh₂-/*swenh₂- (“to sing, make sound”).
Probably from dialectal I s’wan, a corruption of I shall warrant; or possibly from a minced form of I swear on.
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Forms
swans, swanning, swanned, swannedSynonyms
17 synonymsLessons for this word
3 lessons- A1Present simple — Because it is a verb
- A1Past simple, regular verbs — Because of its past form
- A2Present perfect: introduction — Because of its past participle