2009 January 29, Cathy Horyn, “In Paris, a Nod to Old Masters”, inNew York Times[3]:
Dior wouldn’t be Dior without theswagged ball gown[…].
(transitive) To install (a ceiling fan or light fixture) by means of a long cord running from the ceiling to an outlet, and suspended by hooks or similar.
1991, Kalton C. Lahue, Cheryl Smith,Interior Lighting, page19:
Hooks come with screws for use in plaster or wood and toggles for use in wallboard. One hook should be sufficient toswag a lamp from a ceiling outlet.
A place where water collects; a low, wet place where the land has settled.
1902, D. G. Simmons, “The Influence of Contaminated Water in the Development of Diseases”, inThe American Practitioner and News,34: 182:
Whenever the muddy water would accumulate in theswag the water from the well in question would become muddy[…] After the water in theswag had all disappeared through the sink-hole the well water would again become clear.
1941, Jesse Stuart,Men of the Mountains, page273:
This peach tree is th' big tree that allus bore so many peaches. It's th' one in th' lowswag by th' old rotted white oak stump.
[…] the Stoll household were hoeing corn high up on a bench or "swag" of the mountain facing the home, where there was newer and richer ground than in the abandoned fields in its rear.
1960, Joseph S. Hall,Smoky Mountain Folks, page19:
Finally he managed to grab hold of [the turkey's] legs, but as he did so, the turkey "riz" up into the air and carried him across a "swag" (gap) to the next mountain and courteously dropped him.
1970, Harvey Broome,Earth Man, page24:
We dropped our packs in the lowswag and began ascending the steep sides of the "puzzle" mountain.
1972 February 17, Foxfire Fund, Inc.,The Foxfire Book: Hog Dressing, Log Cabin Building, Mountain Crafts and Foods, Planting by the Signs, Snake Lore, Hunting Tales, Faith Healing, Moonshining, Anchor,→ISBN, page258:
Sometimes men would get on either side of a gap orswag, set the dogs loose, and let them drive the deer through between them. Another way was for one man to take the dogs and drive the ridge. Other men would go to gaps or stands at[…]
Now this dude gotswag, and he was pushing up on me but, it wasn't like we was kicking it or anything!
2012, Jack Goldstein, Jimmy Russell,10 Amazing Gangnam Style Tips,→ISBN:
They've got those dumb Kanye sunglasses that are $3 a pair at any skanky old market, they've go the word SWAG airbrushed onto them; these kids are hanging around listening to crunk records, throwing around sayings like “Swag it out”, “Turn myswag on”, “Flip theswag switch and homie” and even “Get out your sweatyswag length and push it deep inside me”. Let me tell you something - if I ever see those kids out in Gangnam I'll be caving their sorry heads in with myswag bat, or I'll be making out with theirswag girlfriend while they're too busy smoking crack behind a brick wall because that's how we do things in Gangnam, sucker.
Theswag, is a term used in speaking of any booty you have lately obtained, be it of what kind it may, except money; as where did youlumber theswag? that is, where did you deposit the stolen property? To carrytheswag is to be the bearer of the stolen goods to a place of safety.
‘I understand that the district was considered a sort of sanctuary,’ the Chief was saying. ‘[…] They tell me there was a recognizedswag market down here.’
1971 November 22, Frank E. Emerson, “They Can Get It For You BETTER Than Wholesale”, inNew York Magazine, page38:
He was on his way to call on other dealers to check out theirswag and to see if he could trade away some of his leftover odds and ends.
"Make sure to take someswag on your way out!" I called. He stooped a bit in mid-trot and snatched a small gold bag out of the basket at the door. The contents were mostly shit, a few drink tickets to the Well of Souls, VIP status at Convent, that sort of thing.
2022 September 28, Kim Cook, “Why free swag at bars, hotels is so important to brands”, inToronto Star[5]:
You may hesitate before you pocket theswag, wondering if doing so is OK. Worry not: Hospitality industry folks say they’re delighted when people feel compelled to take one of these as a keepsake.
swag (third-person singular simple presentswags,present participleswagging,simple past and past participleswagged)
(Australia,ambitransitive) To travel on foot carrying a swag (possessions tied in a blanket).[From 1850s.]
1880, James Coutts Crawford,Recollections of Travel in New Zealand and Australia,page259:
He told me that times had been bad at Invercargill, and that he had started for fresh pastures, had worked his passage up as mate in a small craft from the south, and, arriving in Port Underwood, hadswagged his calico tent over the hill, and was now living in it, pitched in themanuka scrub.
1976, Pembroke Arts Club,The Anglo-Welsh Review,page158:
That such a man wasswagging in the Victoria Bush at the age of fifty-one requires explanation.
The plot is straightforward. A swagman is settling down by a billabong after a hard day′sswagging.
2011, Penelope Debelle,Red Silk: The Life of Elliott Johnston QC,page21:
Over the Christmas of 1939, just three months after Britain and Australia had declared war on Germany, they wentswagging together for a week and slept out under the stars in the Adelaide Hills, talking, walking and reading.
To transport stolen goods.
1869, Frank Henderson,Six years in the prisons of England, page225:
Well, one night we were rather hard up and we wanted a good feed, so five or six of us set out, along with a great stout fellow, and we actually stole a whole sheep that was hanging at a butcher's door, and the big chapswagged it home.
2024 February 8, “Why” (3:03 from the start), VD/Dripz of67 (lyrics)[6]:
17 I was cooking crack, turned Abz' flat to a science lab 18, when my door got banged Like servery knows and throws them bags Two handcuffs on the hands on a circle van when I gotswagged Seven day lost in cell, confinement, disobey lawful order
^David P. Mikkelson (26 September 2012), “Did the Word ‘Swag’ Originate as an Acronym?”, inSnopes.com[1], archived fromthe original on28 November 2021
From a word referring to the fence around a pasture; cf. Old Norsesveigr(“supple branch, headkerchief”), ultimately from a root meaning to bend or twist.
