swipe
part of speech
verb (swipe, swipes, swiped, swiping); noun (a swipe, swipes)
meaning for a pupil
1) To swipe a screen is to move your finger across it to change what is shown: swipe left. tree →
2) To swipe a card is to pass it through or over a reader to pay or open a door. tree →
3) To swipe at someone or something is to hit or try to hit with a big swinging movement. tree →
4) (informal) To swipe something is to steal it quickly: someone swiped my pen. tree →
5) A swipe is an unkind comment that criticises someone: he took a swipe at his rival. tree →
sense in the lessons
Everyday technology: swiping on phones and tablets; «swipe card» for school gates or buses. Online safety: think before you swipe to share or accept anything. Stories: a bear swiped at the fish; a cat took a swipe at the dog. News: politicians «take a swipe» at each other.
examples
- Swipe left to see the next photo. tree →
- Mum swiped her card to pay. tree →
- The cat swiped at the string. tree →
- Someone swiped my rubber! (informal) tree →
- The bear took a swipe at the beehive. tree →
- The coach took a swipe at the referee in his interview. tree →
- You need a swipe card to get into the building. tree →
note
Spelling: swipe drops e before -ing: swiping; past: swiped. The «steal» sense is informal; in formal writing say «stole». Similar: swish, swat (hit), nick (UK slang for steal).
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «swipe» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.