swathe1
/sweɪð
/(also swath /sweɪð/ /swɒθ/)
noun (plural swathes /sweɪðz/ or swaths /sweɪðz/ /swɒθs/)
1A broad strip or area of something: vast swathes of countryside figurative a significant swathe of popular opinion...
- In the fall of 2003, U.S. officials watched anxiously as a potent guerrilla resistance rose across broad swaths of northern and central Iraq.
- As we made our way to Minj, emerald green tea plantations and broad swaths of coffee trees revealed evidence of foreign development.
- In contrast, only modest efforts are now underway in the industry as a whole to integrate broad swaths of the enterprise.
2A row or line of grass, corn, or other crop as it falls or lies when mown or reaped: if the day is windy, the swathes should be high and narrow swathes of barley...
- It involves natural-looking gardens and swathes of grasses mixed with drifts of perennials chosen for their shape, color and hardiness.
- In the unlikely event of a sea entry into Dunedin, the traveller would see a small city ringed by large swathes of rough grass and trees, a ‘Town Belt’.
- Smith flashes a smile and scuffs his foot across a swath of browned grass where Greene and the other sprinters had vomited.
2.1A strip left clear by the passage of a mowing machine or scythe: the combine had cut a deep swathe around the border of the fields...
- For major roads they cleared swathes as wide as the distance of two cannon shots.
- Esgar had planned to drive iron stakes every few feet, joined by lengths of chain, but that proved too costly, so he settled for clearing a swath as wide as a lady might cast a stone.
- Along the wall, they has cleared a swath as wide as a football field, shearing off row after row of houses.
Phrases
cut a swathe through
cut a wide swath
Origin
Old English swæth, swathu 'track, trace', of West Germanic origin; related to Dutch zwad(e) and German Schwade. In Middle English the term denoted a measure of the width of grassland, probably reckoned by a sweep of the mower's scythe.
Rhymes
swathe2
/sweɪð/verb [with object] (usually be swathed in)
Wrap in several layers of fabric: his hands were swathed in bandages...
- It was as if the models were swathed in giant fabric sample books, each layer peeling off to reveal another beneath.
- Ayrshire landmark Ailsa Craig is swathed in a layer of mist, thick enough to maintain a veil of secrecy.
- For the second day in a row the moors were swathed in mists first thing in the morning, a sea mist rolling in again to meet them, and the world damp, drizzly and chill.
Synonyms
wrap, envelop, bind, swaddle, bandage, bundle up, muffle up, cover, cloak, shroud, drape, wind, enfold, bedeck, overlay, encase, sheathe
noun
A piece or strip of material in which something is wrapped: they wrapped the body inside a canvas swathe...
- In fact, the swathe of material - about six yards long and two feet wide - is a saree, a traditional Indian dress.
- There is a rough and ready quality to the portraits, which often feature a swathe of canvas carelessly draped, by leading Swiss photographer Christian Coigny.
- Liquid Dreaming by lorrainemd is just plain pretty - especially that swathe of red material behind the model which looks more like ink diffused in water than fabric.
Origin
Late Old English swath- (noun), swathian (verb); compare with swaddle.