1. To faint.
2. To be overwhelmed by ecstatic joy.

1. A fainting spell; syncope. See synonyms at blackout.
2. A state of ecstasy or rapture.

[Middle English swounen, probably from iswowen, in a swoon, from Old English geswōgen, past participle of *swōgan, to suffocate.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.