swan

• POS: Noun, Verb (usu participle)

CIDE DICTIONARY

swan, n. [AS. swan; akin to D. zwaan, OHG. swan, G. schwan, Icel. svanr, Sw. svan, Dan. svane; and perhaps to E. sound something audible.].

•  Any one of numerous species of large aquatic birds belonging to Cygnus, Olor, and allied genera of the subfamily Cygninæ. They have a large and strong beak and a long neck, and are noted for their graceful movements when swimming. Most of the northern species are white. In literature the swan was fabled to sing a melodious song, especially at the time of its death.  [1913 Webster]

  " The European white, or mute, swan (Cygnus gibbus), which is most commonly domesticated, bends its neck in an S-shaped curve. The whistling, or trumpeting, swans of the genus Olor do not bend the neck in an S-shaped curve, and are noted for their loud and sonorous cry, due to complex convolutions of the windpipe. To this genus belong the European whooper, or whistling swan (Olor cygnus), the American whistling swan (O. Columbianus), and the trumpeter swan (O. buccinator). The Australian black swan (Chenopis atrata) is dull black with white on the wings, and has the bill carmine, crossed with a white band. It is a very graceful species and is often domesticated. The South American black-necked swan (Sthenelides melancorypha) is a very beautiful and graceful species, entirely white, except the head and neck, which are dark velvety seal-brown. Its bill has a double bright rose-colored knob."  [1913 Webster]
•  Fig.: An appellation for a sweet singer, or a poet noted for grace and melody; as Shakespeare is called the swan of Avon.  [1913 Webster]
•  The constellation Cygnus.  [1913 Webster]

Swan goose (Zoöl.), a bird of India (Cygnopsis cygnoides) resembling both the swan and the goose. -- Swan shot, a large size of shot used in fowling.

OXFORD DICTIONARY

swan, n. & v.
--n.
1 a large water-bird of the genus Cygnus etc., having a long flexible neck, webbed feet, and in most species snow-white plumage.
2 literary a poet.
--v.intr. (swanned, swanning) (usu. foll. by about, off, etc.) colloq. move or go aimlessly or casually or with a superior air.

Idiom

swan-dive US = swallow-dive (see SWALLOW(2)). swan-neck a curved structure shaped like a swan's neck. Swan of Avon literary Shakespeare. swan-upping Brit. the annual taking up and marking of Thames swans.

Derivative

swanlike adj. & adv.

Etymology

OE f. Gmc

THESAURUS

swan

alabaster, avifauna, baby bird, bird, bird of Jove, bird of Juno, bird of Minerva, bird of night, bird of passage, bird of prey, birdie, birdlife, birdy, cage bird, chalk, chick, cygnet, diving bird, dove, driven snow, eagle, eaglet, fish-eating bird, fledgling, fleece, flightless bird, flour, foam, fowl, fruit-eating bird, fulmar, game bird, insect-eating bird, ivory, lily, maggot, migrant, migratory bird, milk, nestling, oscine bird, owl, paper, passerine bird, peacock, peafowl, peahen, pearl, perching bird, pigeon, ratite, sea bird, seed-eating bird, sheet, shore bird, silver, snow, songbird, squab, storm petrel, stormy petrel, wading bird, warbler, water bird, waterfowl, wildfowl

ROGET THESAURUS

swan

Animal

N animal, animal kingdom, fauna, brute creation, beast, brute, creature, critter, wight, created being, creeping thing, living thing, dumb animal, dumb creature, zoophyte, mammal, bird, reptile, amphibian, fish, crustacean, shellfish, mollusk, worm, insect, arthropod, microbe, microbe, animalcule, alligator, crocodile, saurian, dinosaur (extinct), snake, serpent, viper, eft, asp, aspick, frog, toad, trout, bass, tuna, muskelunge, sailfish, sardine, mackerel, ant, mosquito, bee, honeybee, tardigrade, spider, biped, quadruped, webfoot, flocks and herds, live stock, domestic animals, wild animals, game, ferae naturae, beasts of the field, fowls of the air, denizens of the sea, black game, black grouse, blackcock, duck, grouse, plover, rail, snipe, horse, cattle, kine, ox, bull, bullock, cow, milch cow, calf, heifer, shorthorn, sheep, lamb, lambkin, ewe, ram, tup, pig, swine, boar, hog, sow, steer, stot, tag, teg, bison, buffalo, yak, zebu, dog, cat, dog, hound, pup, puppy, whelp, cur, mongrel, house dog, watch dog, sheep dog, shepherd's dog, sporting dog, fancy dog, lap dog, toy dog, bull dog, badger dog, mastiff, blood hound, grey hound, stag hound, deer hound, fox hound, otter hound, harrier, beagle, spaniel, pointer, setter, retriever, Newfoundland, water dog, water spaniel, pug, poodle, turnspit, terrier, fox terrier, Skye terrier, Dandie Dinmont, collie, feline, puss, pussy, grimalkin, gib cat, tom cat, fox, Reynard, vixen, stag, deer, hart, buck, doe, roe, caribou, coyote, elk, moose, musk ox, sambar, bird, poultry, fowl, cock, hen, chicken, chanticleer, partlet, rooster, dunghill cock, barn door fowl, feathered tribes, feathered songster, singing bird, dicky bird, canary, warbler, finch, aberdevine, cushat, cygnet, ringdove, siskin, swan, wood pigeon, vermin, varmint, pest, animal, zoological equine, bovine, vaccine, canine, feline, fishy, piscatory, piscatorial, molluscous, vermicular, gallinaceous, rasorial, solidungulate, soliped.