swift / swift/ • adj. happening quickly or promptly: a remarkably swift recovery. ∎  moving or capable of moving at high speed: the water was very swift the swiftest horse in his stable.• adv. poetic/lit.except in combination swiftly: streams that ran swift and clear a swift-acting poison.• n. 1. a swift-flying insectivorous bird with long slender wings and a superficial resemblance to a swallow, spending most of its life on the wing. • Family Apodidae: several genera and numerous species, including the common Eurasian swift (Apus apus). 2. (also swift moth) a moth, typically yellow-brown in color, with fast darting flight. The eggs are scattered in flight and the larvae live underground feeding on roots, where they can be a serious pest. • Family Hepialidae: Hepialus and other genera. 3. a light, adjustable reel for holding a skein of silk or wool.DERIVATIVES: swift·ly adv.swift·ness n.

SWIFT

SWIFT (Heb. סִיס, sis), a bird of the genus Apus of which three species are found in Israel, the most common being Apus apus pekinensis, a small black bird similar to the swallow. Large flights of swifts reach Israel at the end of February and frequent the populated places where their food – flies and mosquitoes – is to be found, filling the air with their cry of "sis-sis," whence their Hebrew name. Their cry sounds like that of a person in pain and to it King Hezekiah compared his groans during his illness (Isa. 38:14). Jeremiah (8:7) notes that the bird arrives in the land at a fixed date. In Israel the swift nests in the interstices of walls and roofs until, at the beginning of July when the fledglings are grown, it returns to South Africa.

bibliography:

Lewysohn, Zool, 209, no. 258; F.S. Bodenheimer, Animal and Man in Bible Lands (1960), 58; J. Feliks, Animal World of the Bible (1962), 89.

[Jehuda Feliks]

swift Any of several species of fast-flying, widely distributed birds. They have hooked bills, wide mouths, long narrow wings, and darkish plumage. They typically feed on insects, which they catch in flight, and build nests of plant matter held together with saliva. Length: to 23cm (9in). Family Apodidae.

swift moving far in a short time, taking place at high speed. OE., f. base of swīfan move in a course, sweep = ON. svīfa.
Hence swift sb. (dial.) applied to various swiftly-moving reptiles XVI; bird of the family Apodidae XVII.

swifts See APODIDAE; APODIFORMES.