sweb

English

Alternative forms

• swab

Etymology

From Middle English swebben (“to sleep, swoon”), from Old English swebban (“to put to sleep, lull, kill”), from Proto-West Germanic *swabbjan, from Proto-Germanic *swabjaną, *swēbijaną (“to lull, put to sleep”), from Proto-Indo-European *swep-, *sup- (“to sleep”). Cognate with Icelandic svefja (“to put to sleep, lull, soothe”), Latin sōpiō (“put to sleep, lull”, verb). Related to sweven.

Verb

sweb (third-person singular simple present swebs, present participle swebbing, simple past and past participle swebbed)

1. (intransitive, UK dialectal, Northern England) To swoon; faint.

   Hoo swebbed, all droked in sweat, frae the heat o' the desert sun.

   She fainted, all drenched in sweat, from the heat of the desert sun.

Noun

sweb (plural swebs)

1. (UK dialectal, Northern England) A swoon.

Derived terms

• swebby

Related terms

• sweven

Anagrams

• EBWs, WBEs, webs