I. ˈswä]th also -wȯ] or ]th noun
or swathe -wāth
( plural swaths ]thz, ]ths ; or swathes )
Etymology: Middle English, from Old English swæth, swathu footstep, track, trace; akin to Old Frisian swethe limit, boundary, Middle Dutch swat swath, Middle High German swade
1.
a.
(1) : the whole sweep of a scythe or a machine in mowing or cradling
(2) : the path or the breadth of a path cut in one course
b. : a windrow of cut grain or grass left by a scythe or mowing machine
c. : a crop or row of grass or grain ready for reaping or haying
2. : a long broad strip or belt
the wide swath of a firebreak — Victor Canning
a swath of land three blocks long — Lewis Mumford
3. : a stroke of or as if of a scythe
integrating factors which have survived the swath of time — W.W.Taylor
4. : a collection or a space emptied of a collection destroyed as if by a scythe
chain stores cut great swaths in the jobbing business — American Guide Series: Minnesota
II. ˈswath\
dialect England
variant of sward