swarm 
Not runnyngu on hrapes an a nminne tit bees. 
Babffl /;>*(!:. K. T. S.), p. 341. 
3. In general, a great number or inultitiidr; 
particularly, a multitude of people in motion: 
often used of inanimate objects: as, a swarm 
of meteors. 
Tlii-y are not faithful towards God that burden wilfully 
his Church with sncli iwaruu of unworthy creatures. 
lliHikrr, Kccles. Polity, v. 81. 
This twarm of fair advantages. 
Khuk., 1 Hen. IV., v. 1. 66. 
A night made hoary with the noarm 
And whirl-dance of the blinding storm. 
Whittier, Snow-Bound. 
= 8yn. 3. Crowd, throng, cliistrr. 
swarm' (swarm), r. [< ME.si0ar;eH, swermen, 
< AS. airirniiiH = MD. swermen, I), zwermen = 
MHO. swiirnini. (1. xrhiriirmcn = Sw. sriirma = 
11. MVI rim: swarm; from the noun.] I. I'H- 
s. 1. To move in a swarrn or in large num- 
bers, as insects and other small creatures; 
specifically, to collect and depart from a hive 
by flight in a body, as bees. 
We were sometimes shivering on the top of a bleak 
mountain, and a little while utter basking In a warm val- 
ley, covered with violets and almond-trees in blossom, 
the bees already mvartning over them, though but In the 
month of February. 
Additon, Remarks on Italy (Works, ed. Bohn, I. 415). 
2. To appear or come together in a crowd 
or confused multitude; congregate or throng 
in multitudes; crowd together with confused 
movements. 
All the people were tiraruieil forth into the streets. 
Sir T. More, Utopia (tr. by Robinson), II. 6. 
After the Tartars had sacked Bagdat in the yearc of the 
Hegeira 656. these Sectaries nrarmtd all ouer Asia and 
Africa. Purchat, Pilgrimage, p. 619. 
O, what a multitude of thoughts at once 
Awaken'd in me swarml Milton, P. R., 1. 197. 
3. To be crowded; be overrun; be thronged 
with a multitude; abound; be filled with a 
number or crowd of objects. 
Every place ticarming with souldtours. 
Spenner, State of Ireland. 
The whole land 
Is full of weeds, . . . and her wholesome herbs 
Swarming with caterpillars. 
SAa*., Rich. II., 111. 4. 47. 
Therefore, they do not only twarm with errors, but vices 
depending thereon. Sir T. Browne, Vulg. Err.,. 1. 3. 
4. To breed multitudes. 
Not so thick stvarm'd once the soil 
Bedropt with blood of Gorgon. Milton, P. L., x. 526. 
II. trans. 1. To crowd or throng. [Rare.] 
The barbarians, marueilyng at the huge greatnesse and 
mouynge of owre shyppes, came sicarmyng the bankes on 
botho aydes the ryucr. 
Peter Martyr (tr. in Eden's First Books on America, ed. 
[Arber, p. 188). 
And cowled and barefoot beggars twanned the way, 
All In their convent weeds, of black, and white, and gray. 
Bryant, The Ages. 
2. To cause to breed in swarms. 
But, all his vast heart sherrls-wann'd. 
He flash'd his random speeches ; 
Ere days, that deal in ana, sicarm'd 
His literary leeches. 
Tennyson, Will Waterproof. 
swarm 2 (swarm), v. [< ME. swarmen (for swar- 
ven 1) ; appar. a var. of swarre, simulating 
swarm 1 , and perhaps associated with squirm.] 
I. intrans. To climb a tree, pole, or the like by 
embracing it with the arms and legs; shin: of- 
ten with up. [Colloq.] 
He gicannfd up into a tree, 
Whyle eyther of them might other se. 
Nitr leenbras, 1. 351. (Halliicrll.) 
Swarming up the lightning-conductor of a great church 
I.. IK ii flag at the top of the steeple. 
The Spectator, No. 3035, p. 1142. 
II. trans. To climb, as a tree, by embracing 
it with the arms and legs, and scrambling up. 
[Colloq.] 
swarm-cell (swarm'sel), n. In bot., a naked 
motile protoplasmic body ; a zoospore. 
swarming (swar'ming), n. [Verbal n. of 
stearin 1 , v] 1. The act of moving in a swarm, 
as bees from a hive. 2. In bot., a method of 
reproduction observed in some of the l'i>nf<r- 
vactse and Dcsmidiaceie, in which the granules 
constituting the green matter become detached 
from one another and move about in their cells ; 
then the external membrane swells and bursts, 
and the granules issue forth into the water to 
become new plants. 
swarm-spore (swarm ' spor), n. 1. A naked 
motile reproductive body produced asexually 
by certain Fnni/i and Aline: a zoospore. See 
mirriM-i/xt. 2. The peculiar gemtnule (see gem- 
initlc) of sponges; tho so-called planula or cili- 
0101 
ated sponge-embryo, regarded not ;is an MB- 
bryonic body, but as a coherent aggregate of 
monadiform spores. 
swart ( swart), . [Also improp. sicurth ; < M K. 
xinirl, siriirtf, < AS. sweart = < >S. ( )r'rii'S. .M/-/ 
= MI), swart, D. zwnrt = MLG. I.(i. swart = 
OHO. MHO. swan, G. schwari = Icel. xnirtr 
= Sw. mart = l)an. sort = Goth, tncartx, black ; 
akin to L. sordere, be dirty, sordidus, dirty, 
sordes ("mordes), dirt (see sordid).'] Being of 
a dark hue; moderately black ; swarthy: said 
especially of the skin or complexion. 
Men schalle then sone se 
Att mydday hytt shalle naarte be. 
Hymn to Virgin, etc. (E. E. T. 8.), p. 119. 
A nation itraunge, with visage tirart. 
Spauer, K Q., II. x. IS. 
Lame, foolish, crooked, mart. Shot., K. John, iii. 1. i. 
swartt (swart), v. t. [< ME. swarten, < AS. 
meeartian = MD. swerten, D. zwarten = OHG. 
swarzjan, swarzan, make black, stearzen, be or 
become black, MHG. swerzen, make black, svar- 
een, be or become black, G. schwiirzen, make 
black, = Icel. srerta, sorta = Sw. svartu = Dan. 
sveerte, make black; cf. Dan. sortne, become 
black; from the adj.] To make swart; black- 
en; tan. 
The sun, whose fervour may turart a living part, and even 
black a dead or dissolving flesh. 
Sir T. Browne, Vulg. Err., vl. 10. 
swartback (swart'bak), n. The great black- 
backed gull, or coffin-carrier, Larus marinus. 
[Orkney.] 
swarth 1 (swarth), n. [A var. of guard.] A 
sward. 
Dance them down on their own grecn-nrartA. 
B. Jonton, Pan's Anniversary. 
Onssy ncarth, close cropp'd by nibbling sheep. 
Confer, Task, L 110. 
swarth 2 (swarth), n. A corruption of swath 1 . 
An affectloned ass, that cons state without book and 
utters it by great twarths. Shak., T. N., II. 3. 162. 
Here stretch'd In ranks the level'd twartht are found, 
Sheares heap'd on sheaves here thicken up the ground. 
Pope, Iliad, xvill. 639. 
swarth 3 (swarth), a. A corrupt form of swart. 
Your xu'iirt/i Cimmerian 
Doth make your honour of his body's hue, 
Spotted, detested, and abominable. 
Shak., TIL And., ii. 3. 72. 
He's ncarth and meagre, of an eye as heavy 
As If he had lost his mother. 
Fletcher (and another), Two Noble Kinsmen, IT. 2. 
swarth 4 (swarth), . [Perhaps < swarth 3 , a 
form of swart, black; cf. swart-rutter, a black 
rider, German horseman, whose strange ap- 
parel may have originated the superstition: 
see steart.] An apparition of aperson about to 
die ; a wraith. [Prov. Eng.] 
These apparitions are called Fetches or Wraiths, and In 
Cumberland Swartht. Grose, Pop. Superstitions, Ghosts. 
swarthily (swar'thi-li), adv. With a swarthy 
hue. 
swarthiness (swar'thi-nes), n. .The state of 
being swarthy; tawniness; a dusky or dark 
complexion, 
swarthness (swarth'nes), . Same as swartlii- 
nt'SK. 
swarthy (swar'thi), a. [A corrupt and now 
more common form of swarty.] Dark; tawny; 
swart. 
Silvia . . . 
Shows Julia but a twarthy Ethiope. 
Shak., T. O. of V., II. 6. 26. 
Hard colls of cordage, nrarthy fishing-nets. 
Tennyson, Enoch Arden. 
swarthyt (swar'thi), v. t. [< swarthy, a.] To 
blacken ; make swarthy or swart. 
Now will I and my man John ncarthy our faces over as 
If that country's heat had made 'em so. Covtey. 
swartiness (swar'ti-nes), n. The state of being 
swart or swarthy ; swarthiness. Imp. Diet. 
swartish (swar'tish), a. [< ME. swartish; < 
swart + -isA 1 .] Somewhat swart, dark, or 
tawny. 
Blak, bloo, grenyssh, neartith, rede. 
Chaucer, House of Fame, L 1647. 
swartness (swart'nes), n. Swarthiness. Scott. 
swart-rutter (swart'rut'er), n. [< MD. swert- 
ruyti-r, a black trooper, < swert, black, -I- ruyter, 
trooper, horseman : see swart and rutter 1 .] A 
black trooper; one of a class of irregular troop- 
ers who infested the Low Countries in the six- 
teenth and seventeenth centuries. They wore 
a black dress, carried black arms, blackened 
their faces, and called themselves inOt. 
swart-star (swfirt'stiir), n. The dog-star: so 
called because it appears in the heat of sum- 
swash 
rncr, wliic-li darkens r inaki-s swart the com- 
plexion. [Hare.] 
Miailcs, and wanton winds, and gushing brooks, 
< in whose fresh lap the ncart-gtar sparely looks. 
Millmi, l.ycidas, 1. 13. 
SWart-Visaged ( swart 'vi/. nj'l), a. Swarthy. 
[Rare.] 
Bare-armed, nrarf-rixuKd, nant, and shaggy-hroweiL 
<i. W. linnet. Autocrat, II. 
SWartyt (swar'ti), a. [< stcart + -y 1 . Now usu- 
ally in the altered form swarthy.] An obsolete 
form of swarthy. 
And proudly roll'st thy nearly chariot-wheels 
Over the heaps of wounds and carcasses. 
Fletcher, Bonduca, III. 1. 
Swartzia (swart'si-a), n. [NL. (Schreber, 
1789), named after OlauH .Sicnrfc: (born 1760.. I i.-cl 
about 1818), a Swedish botanist.] A genns of 
leguminous trees, of the suborder Papilimiacete, 
type of the tribe Swartzieee. It Is characterized bv 
a variously ruptured calyi. which Is entire and roundish 
in the bud ; a corolla usually consisting of a single broad 
corrugated banner-petal or sometimes wanting ; numerous 
declined and curving stamens which are nearly or quite 
free ; and a coriaceous or fleshy ovoid or elongated pod. 
There are nearly 60 six-civs, natives of tropical America, 
except one which Is African. The leaves are odd-pinnate 
or sometimes reduced to a single leaflet ; the flowers are 
commonly borne In clustered or panicled racemes. They 
are mostly large forest-trees yielding a very hard and 
durable timber. tmneiituta, the panococo or palo santo 
tree of Guiana, becomes 60 feet high and 3 feet thick. Its 
bark, called pamicoco-bark, is a powerful sudorific, and 
yields a red juice which hardens into a blackish resin. .V. 
yrandiflora, of the West Indies and southward, a small tree 
or shrub known as naranjillo amarillo, also yields a valua- 
ble and very heavy wood. 
Swartzieae (swart-zi'e-e), n. pi. [NL. (A. P. 
de Candolle, 1825), < Stcartzia + -c.] A tribe 
of leguminous plants, intermediate between the 
suborder Ctenalptniese and the I'apilioiiaceee, and 
formerly itself regarded as a distinct suborder. 
From the former It differs In Its usually exterior upper 
petal and its indexed instead of straight radicle. It Is now 
classed with the Papilionacetr, but differs from their usu- 
al character in Its numerous and separate stamens, and co- 
rolla not at all papilionaceous but composed of five nearly 
equal petals, or of a single broad one, or wholly without 
petals. From the tribe Sophorex, its nearest ally, it is also 
distinguished by its calyx, which is closed and entire In the 
bud. It consists of 6 genera, of which Su-artzia is the type, 
and includes about 70 species, mainly trees with pinnate 
leaves, natives of tropical Africa and South A merica, espe- 
cially of Brazil. Five or six exceptional Brazilian species 
have usually only ten stamens, like the type of the order. 
BWarve (swarv), r. ; pret. and pp. mcarced, ppr. 
steaming. [< ME. sirarven, a var. of swerrcn, 
swerve : see stcerre. Cf. swarf.] I. intrans. To 
swerve ; incline to one side. 
In the urarnntje, the stroke, that was grete, descended 
be-twene the shclde, and kutte asonder the gyge with all 
the honde that it fly in to the feilde. 
Merlin (E. E. T. 8.), II. 216. 
The sword, more merciful than he to himself, with the 
slipping of the pommel the point nrarved and rased him 
but upon the side. Sir P. Kidney, Arcadia, lit 
The horse named round, and I fell aff at the tae side as 
the ball whistled by at the tither. 
Scott, Bride of Lammermoor, xxiv. 
II. trans. To climb. 
Then Gordon ncarved the mainmast tree. 
Percy' t Keliquet. (HaUiweU.) 
[Old Eng. and Scotch in both uses.] 
swash 1 (swosh), v. [Cf. Sw. dial, srastika, make 
a swashing noise, as when one walks with wa- 
ter in his shoes; cf. Sw. svassa, speak or write 
bombast, Norw. svakka, make a noise like water 
under the feet.] I. intrans. 1. To spill or splash 
water about; dash or flow noisily; splash. 
The nightmared ocean murmurs and yearns, 
Welters, and gwashet, and tosses, and turns. 
Lou-ell, Appledore, I. 
2f. To fall violently or noisily. 
They offered to kisse Mr, and ncatht downe vpon hlr 
bed. Uolinshed, Chron., Rich. II., an. 1881. 
3. To bluster; make a great noise; make a show 
of valor; vapor; brag. 
To fence, to sicash with swords, to swagger. Florio. 
II. (ran*. To dash about violently; strike 
violently. 
swash 1 (swosh), n. [< wo** 1 ,!-.] 1. A dash- 
ing or splashing of water; splash. Coles. 2. 
Liquid filth; wash; hogwash. 
His stomacke abhorreth longyn after slibber, aausc, and 
tmuhe, at which a whole stomacke Is readye to cast hys 
gorge. Tyndale, Works, p. (15. 
Swine . . . refuse partriges and other dellcats, and doe 
greedily hunt after Acornes and other twuh. 
Meres. Wits Commonwealth (16S4), ii. 50. 
3. A narrow sound or channel of water lying 
within a sand-bank, or between that and the 
shore. Also sirash channel, sirafhiray. 
The Minnesota taking the middle or nraxA channel. 
The Century, XXIX. 742. 
