swatting
English
editEtymology
editPronunciation
editVerb
editswatting
- present participle and gerund of swat
Noun
editswatting (plural swattings)
- A motion or gesture that swats; a swat.
- 1973, Oliver Sacks, Awakenings:
- This […] evoked a new disorder — a tendency to sudden, tic-like jabbings and swattings in the air, as if she were fending off flies or mosquitoes.
- (US, slang) The action of making an illegitimate call to the police so as to have a SWAT team dispatched to a location.
- 2020 January 23, Sheera Frenkel, “People Are Calling SWAT Teams to Tech Executives’ Homes”, in The New York Times[1], →ISSN:
- Swatting started in the combative world of online gaming. It was a way to terrorize someone more famous, get even with a rival or retaliate against someone with different political views.