(1.) Hebrews sis (Isaiah 38:14; Jeremiah 8:7), the Arabic for the swift, which "is a regular migrant, returning in myriads every spring, and so suddenly that while one day not a swift can be seen in the country, on the next they have overspread the whole land, and fill the air with their shrill cry." The swift (cypselus) is ordinarily classed with the swallow, which it resembles in its flight, habits, and migration.

(2.) Hebrews deror, i.e., "the bird of freedom" (Psalm 84:3; Proverbs 26:2), properly rendered swallow, distinguished for its swiftness of flight, its love of freedom, and the impossibility of retaining it in captivity. In Isaiah 38:14 and Jeremiah 8:7 the word thus rendered (`augr) properly means "crane" (as in the R.V.).

Noah Webster's New International Dictionary of the English Language

1. (n.) Any one of numerous species of passerine birds of the family Hirundinidae, especially one of those species in which the tail is deeply forked. They have long, pointed wings, and are noted for the swiftness and gracefulness of their flight.

2. (n.) Any one of numerous species of swifts which resemble the true swallows in form and habits, as the common American chimney swallow, or swift.

3. (n.) The aperture in a block through which the rope reeves.

4. (v. t.) To take into the stomach; to receive through the gullet, or esophagus, into the stomach; as, to swallow food or drink.

5. (v. t.) To draw into an abyss or gulf; to engulf; to absorb -- usually followed by up.

6. (v. t.) To receive or embrace, as opinions or belief, without examination or scruple; to receive implicitly.

7. (v. t.) To engross; to appropriate; -- usually with up.

8. (v. t.) To occupy; to take up; to employ.

9. (v. t.) To seize and waste; to exhaust; to consume.

10. (v. t.) To retract; to recant; as, to swallow one's opinions.

11. (v. t.) To put up with; to bear patiently or without retaliation; as, to swallow an affront or insult.

12. (v. i.) To perform the act of swallowing; as, his cold is so severe he is unable to swallow.

13. (n.) The act of swallowing.

14. (n.) The gullet, or esophagus; the throat.

15. (n.) Taste; relish; inclination; liking.

16. (n.) Capacity for swallowing; voracity.

17. (n.) As much as is, or can be, swallowed at once; as, a swallow of water.

18. (n.) That which engulfs; a whirlpool.