Swan vs Stork - What's the difference?
swan | stork |
Any of various species of large, long-necked waterfowl, of genus Cygnus , most of which have white plumage.
(figuratively) One whose grace etc. suggests a swan.
(British) To travel or move about in an aimless, idle, or pretentiously casual way.
* 2010 , Lee Rourke, The Canal , Melville House Publishing (2010), ISBN 9781935554905,
* 2013 , Tilly Bagshawe, One Summer’s Afternoon , HarperCollins (2013), ISBN 9780007472550,
(US, slang) To declare (chiefly in first-person present constructions).
* 1907 December, J. D. Archer, Foiling an eavesdropper'', in ''Telephony , volume 14, page 345:
* 1940 , (Raymond Chandler), Farewell, My Lovely , Penguin 2010, page 214:
A large wading bird with long legs and a long beak of the family Ciconiidae.
The mythical bringer of babies to familes.
As nouns the difference between swan and stork
is that swan is any of various species of large, long-necked waterfowl, of genus Cygnus, most of which have white plumage while stork is a large wading bird with long legs and a long beak of the family Ciconiidae.As a verb swan
is to travel or move about in an aimless, idle, or pretentiously casual way.As a proper noun Swan
is {{surname}.swan
English
(wikipedia swan)Etymology 1
From (etyl) (m), from (etyl) .Noun
(en-noun)Derived terms
* swanling * swan species: black swan, black-necked swan, mute swan, trumpeter swan, tundra swan, whooper swan * swan boat * swan dive * swanherd * swannery * swansdown * swanskin * swan songSee also
* cob (adult male) * cygnet (epicene, young) * lamentation * pen (adult female)Verb
(swann)unnumbered page:
- He swans' around that stinking office in his expensive clothes that are a little too tight for comfort, he ' swans around that stinking office without a care in the world.
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- One of the few strokes of good luck Emma had had in recent days was the news that Tatiana Flint-Hamilton, her only real rival for top billing as 'most photographable girl' at today's event had decided to swan off to Sardinia instead, leaving the limelight entirely to Emma.
Usage notes
* In the sense "to travel", usually used as part of the phrase "to swan about" or "to swan around".Etymology 2
Probably from dialectal , contraction of "I shall warrant"; later seen as a minced form of (term).Verb
(swann)- "Well, I swan , man, I had a better opinion of you than that."
- ‘She slammed the door so hard I figured a window'd break .’ ‘I swan ,’ I said.