different between limber vs swift

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?l?mb?(?)/

Etymology 1

Unknown; possibly related to limb or limp.

Adjective

limber (comparative limberer, superlative limberest)

1. Flexible, pliant, bendable.

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

limber (third-person singular simple present limbers, present participle limbering, simple past and past participle limbered)

1. To cause to become limber; to make flexible or pliant.

Translations

Etymology 2

For the obsolete limmer, from Old Norse limar (“branches”), plural of lim.

Noun

limber (plural limbers)

1. (military) A two-wheeled vehicle to which a wheeled artillery piece or caisson may be attached for transport.
   • 1985, Peter Carey, Illywhacker, Faber and Faber 2003, p. 29:

     we covered the rutted, rattling, dusty pot-holed roads of coastal Victoria, six big Walers in front, the cannon at the rear, and that unsprung cart they called a ‘limber’ in the middle.

2. (in the plural) The shafts or thills of a wagon or carriage.
3. (nautical, in the plural) Gutters or conduits on each side of the keelson to allow water to pass to the pump well.

Usage notes

• Sometimes the plural limbers was used to refer to a single such vehicle.

Translations

Verb

limber (third-person singular simple present limbers, present participle limbering, simple past and past participle limbered)

1. (obsolete) To prepare an artillery piece for transportation (i.e., to attach it to its limber.)

Antonyms

• unlimber

Translations

See also

• caisson

Further reading

• Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., 1989.
• limber on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• limbers and caissons on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Limbers on Wikimedia Commons.Wikimedia Commons
• limber at OneLook Dictionary Search
• limber in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

References

English

Etymology

From Middle English swift, from Old English swift (“swift; quick”), from Proto-Germanic *swiftaz (“swift; quick”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)weyp- (“to twist; wind around”). Cognate with Icelandic svipta (“to pull quickly”), Old English sw?fan (“to revolve, sweep, wend, intervene”). More at swivel.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sw?ft/
• Homophone: Swift
• Rhymes: -?ft

Adjective

swift (comparative swifter, superlative swiftest)

1. Fast; quick; rapid.
2. Capable of moving at high speeds.

Translations

Noun

swift (plural swifts)

1. A small plain-colored bird of the family Apodidae that resembles a swallow and is noted for its rapid flight.

   Synonyms: needletail, spinetail, swiftlet

2. Any of certain lizards of the genus Sceloporus.

   Synonym: fence lizard, spiny lizard

3. (entomology) A moth of the family Hepialidae, swift moth, ghost moth.
4. (entomology) Any of various fast-flying hesperiid butterflies.
5. A reel for winding yarn.
6. The main cylinder of a carding-machine.
7. (obsolete) The current of a stream.

Translations

Adverb

swift (comparative more swift, superlative most swift)

1. (obsolete, poetic) Swiftly.
   • 1602, William Shakespeare, Troilus and Cressida, II. iii. 263:

     Light boats sail swift, though greater hulks draw deep.

   • 1793, Robert Southey, Lord William

     Ply swift and strong the oar.

Synonyms

• swith

Derived terms

• African swift (Apus barbatus)
• alpine swift (Tachymarptis melba)
• Andean swift (Aeronautes andecolus)
• ashy-tailed swift (Chaetura andrei)
• band-rumped swift (Chaetura spinicaudus)
• Bates's swift (Apus batesi)
• black swift (Cypseloides niger)
• Blyth's swift (Apus leuconyx)
• Bradfield's swift (Apus bradfieldi)
• chimney swift (Chaetura pelagica)
• common swift (Apus apus)
• Cook's swift (Apus cooki)
• Costa Rican swift (Chaetura fumosa)
• crested swift (Hemiprocnidae spp.)
• dark-rumped swift (Apus acuticauda)
• emerald swift (Sceloporus malachiticus)
• Eurasian swift, European swift (Apus apus)
• fence swift (Sceloporus undulatis)
• Fernando Po swift (Apus sladeniae)
• Forbes-Watson's swift (Apus berliozi)
• fork-tailed swift
• ghost swift (Hepialidae)
• great dusky swift (Cypseloides senex)
• great swift (Hepialus humuli)
• grey-rumped swift (Chaetura cinereiventris)
• little swift (Apus affinis)
• mottled swift (Tachymarptis aequatorialis)
• needle-tailed swift (Hirundapus caudacutus)
• Nyanza swift (Apus niansae)
• orange swift (Triodia sylvina)
• Pacific swift (Apus pacificus)
• pallid swift (Apus pallidus)
• palm swift (Cypsiurus spp.)
• pine swift (Sceloporus undulatus)
• sagebrush swift (Sceloporus graciosus)
• Salim Ali's swift (Apus salimali)
• scarce swift (Schoutedenapus myoptilus)
• Schouteden's swift (Schoutedenapus schoutedeni)
• Sick's swift (Chaetura meridionalis)
• sooty swift (Cypseloides fumigatus)
• spine-tailed swift (Hirundapus caudacutus)
• spot-fronted swift (Cypseloides cherriei)
• swift fox (Vulpes velox)
• swift fruit bat (Thoopterus nigrescens)
• swift moth
• swiftness
• swiftlet (Apodidae spp.)
• swiftly
• swift parrot (Lathamus discolor)
• swiftwater
• tree swift, treeswift (Hemiprocnidae spp.)
• white-chested swift (Cypseloides lemosi)
• white-chinned swift (Cypseloides cryptus)
• white-collared swift (Streptoprocne zonaris)
• white-naped swift (Streptoprocne semicollaris)
• white-throated swift (Aeronautes saxatalis)
• white-tipped swift (Aeronautes montivagus)

Old English

Etymology

From the verb sw?fan.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /swift/

Adjective

swift (comparative swiftra, superlative swiftost)

1. swift, quick

Declension

Derived terms

• swiftl??e
• swiftnes

Descendants

• English: swift