swath

noun

ˈswäth 

ˈswȯth

variants or swathe

ˈswät͟h 

ˈswȯt͟h,

ˈswāt͟h 

1

a

: a row of cut grain or grass left by a scythe or mowing machine

b

: the sweep of a scythe or a machine in mowing or the path cut in one course

2

: a long broad strip or belt

3

: a stroke of or as if of a scythe

4

: a space devastated as if by a scythe

Examples of swath in a Sentence

An aerial view of the countryside shows wide swathes of green.

He cut a swath through the field with his scythe.

Recent Examples on the Web

The landscape is vast and rugged, a mish-mash of rock, dirt and creosote bushes, swaths of gray and brown under a deep blue sky. —Jack Flemming, Los Angeles Times, 4 Dec. 2024

Escobar said a better solution to killing off large swaths of environmentally and culturally indispensable lands would be conserving water. —Shaun McKinnon, The Arizona Republic, 2 Dec. 2024

Spencer Platt / Getty Images On Sunday — typically the busiest travel day of Thanksgiving week, as people return home from holiday trips — the cold will continue across swaths of the country, as well as lake effect snow around the Great Lakes and Northeast. —Marlene Lenthang, NBC News, 28 Nov. 2024

Sugarcane makes up the bulk of the Everglades Agricultural Area, a swath of land south of Lake Okeechobee that’s a bit smaller than the state of Rhode Island. —Bill Kearney, Sun Sentinel, 25 Nov. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, from Old English swæth footstep, trace; akin to Middle High German swade swath

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Kids Definition

swath

noun

ˈswäth 

ˈswȯth

variants or swathe

ˈswät͟h 

ˈswȯt͟h,

ˈswāt͟h

1

a

: the sweep of a scythe or machine in mowing or the path cut in one course

b

: a row of cut grain or grass

2

: a long broad strip or belt

3

: a space destroyed as if by a mowing machine