/ sweɪð; NAmE / noun , verb
■ noun (also swath / swɒθ; NAmE swɑːθ/) ( formal )
1.
a long strip of land, especially one on which the plants or crops have been cut :
The combine had cut a swathe around the edge of the field.
Development has affected vast swathes of our countryside.
2.
a large strip or area of sth :
The mountains rose above a swathe of thick cloud.
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IDIOMS
- cut a swathe through sth
■ verb
[ vn ] [ usually passive ] swathe sb/sth (in sth) ( formal ) to wrap or cover sb/sth in sth :
He was lying on the hospital bed, swathed in bandages.
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WORD ORIGIN
noun Old English swæth , swathu track, trace , of West Germanic origin; related to Dutch zwad(e) and German Schwade . In Middle English the term denoted a measure of the width of grassland, probably reckoned by a sweep of the mower's scythe.
verb late Old English swath- (noun), swathian (verb); compare with swaddle .