swingle

UK: /ˈswɪŋɡ^əl/ US: (swing′gəl)

Inflections of 'swingle' (v): (⇒ conjugate)

swingles

v 3rd person singular

swingling

v pres p

swingled

v past

swingled

v past p

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

swin•gle¹  (swing′gəl), n., v., -gled, -gling. 
n. 

1. a swipple.
2. Textiles a wooden instrument shaped like a large knife, for beating flax or hemp and scraping from it the woody or coarse portions.

v.t. 

3. Textiles to clean (flax or hemp) by beating and scraping with a swingle.

• Middle English swingel, Old English swingell rod (cognate with Middle Dutch swinghel), equivalent. to swing- (see swing¹) + -el instrumental suffix (see -le) 1275–1325

swin•gle²  (swing′gəl), n. [Slang.]

1. Slang Terms a single person who swings, esp. one who is highly active socially and sexually.

• blend of, blended swing¹ and single 1965–70, American.

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

swingle / ˈswɪŋɡ^əl/ noun

1. a flat-bladed wooden instrument used for beating and scraping flax or hemp to remove coarse matter from it

verb

1. (transitive) to use a swingle on

Etymology: Old English swingel stroke; related to Middle High German swüngel, Middle Dutch swinghel