| swathe | v. | to wrap in layers of material; to bandage | ||
| swayback | n. | animal (esp. a horse) with a sagging spine | ||
| sweetbread | n. | thymus gland used as food; pancreas used as food | ||
| swing shift | n. | work shift between day shift and night shift; system wherein workers alternate between day and night tours of duty | ||
| swinge | v. | to flog, to thrash, to punish | archaic | |
| swingeing | adj. | large, great, severe, extreme | ||
| swink | v. | to labor, to work hard | ||
| swivet | n. | panic, state of excitement or anxiety | ||
| swizz | v. | to be disappointed, to be cheated | British | |
| swot | n. | hard work or study; diligent student | ||
| sybaritic | adj. | fond or overfond of luxurious pleasure | ||
| syllabub | n. | dessert of beaten and sweetened cream flavored with wine; drink of milk or cream mixed with wine or cider | ||
| syllogomania | n. | collectionism, compulsive hoarding, mental derangement characterized by obsessive collecting | ||
| sylph | n. | aerial spirit; slender girl or woman | ||
| synclinal | adj. | sloping downward | ||
| syncope | n. | fainting; sudden stopping, cutting short | ||
| syncretic | adj. | joining or reconciling diverse beliefs or practices | ||
| syncytium | n. | multinucleate cell or cell mass | biology | |
| syndic | n. | governmental officer; official of corporation with plenipotentiary power to transact certain business | ||
| syndicalism | n. | movement espousing the transfer of control of the means of production and distribution to workers’ unions | ||
| synechia | n. | eye disease wherein the iris adheres to either the cornea or the lens | ||
| synectic | adj. | (of a cause) immediately producing an effect, direct | ||
| synoptic | adj. | of or taking a comprehensive view of a subject | ||
| synovitis | n. | inflammation of the membrane around a joint | ||
| syntagma | n. | syntactic component; arrangement of components producing meaning or a greater whole; phalanx of Macedonian spearmen | ||
| syzygy | n. | alignment of three celestial bodies; dipody, two-foot metric line; pair of connected things | ||
| tabi | n. | Japanese split toe socks with separate chamber for big toe | ||
| tabor | n. | small drum, esp. as used by piper as percussive accompaniment | ||
| tabouret | n. | small stool | ||
| taffrail | n. | rail around top deck of a ship’s stern | nautical | |
| tagger | n. | one who tags; device for tagging (sheep, merchandise, etc.); graffitist | ||
| tallage | n. | arbitrary tax of the Normans and the early Angevins | ||
| tallboy | n. | highboy | ||
| tamarisk | n. | one of many varieties of shrub found in Eurasia or Africa | ||
| tamis | n. | fine-weave strainer | ||
| tanist | n. | elected second-in-command or heir apparent to a Celtic chief | ||
| tannoy | n. | loudspeaker system for public announcements | ||
| tansy | n. | herb with yellow flowers; 17th century dish using tansy for seasoning | ||
| tantalum | n. | element with atomic number 73, a silver-grey rare metal | ||
| tantalus | n. | small stand or rack containing decanters with a locking bar atop to prevent unauthorized tippling | ||
| tantivy | adv. | 1 | at full gallop, headlong | archaic |
| tantivy | n. | 2 | a rapid gallop | archaic |
| tantivy | int. | 3 | hunting cry whilst riding at full gallop | archaic |
| taphonomy | n. | study of processes affecting living tissues after death, esp. with regards to fossilization | ||
| taphophile | n. | lover of cemeteries, funerals, or gravestones | ||
| tardigrade | adj. | slow moving or slow walking; of or relating to sloths; of or relating to water-bears | ||
| tare | n. | 1 | noxious weed | biblical |
| tare | v. | past tense of the verb “to tear” | obsolete | |
| targe | n. | buckler, small shield | archaic | |
| tarlatan | n. | thin, open-mesh muslin, used frequently for ballroom gowns |
