Meaning & use
swatting someone
Last updated
Meanings
phraseidiominformal
The act of making a false emergency call so that armed police are sent to someone else's home, usually as a prank or to harass them.
Grammar: Used as a noun phrase: 'Swatting someone is a crime.' The verb inside it, swat, takes an object: 'They swatted the streamer.'
Patterns
- swatting someone is illegal
- be accused of swatting someone
- a case of swatting someone
Police say swatting someone can put an entire neighborhood in danger.
The teenager was arrested for swatting someone after an online argument.
Streamers have spoken out about swatting someone they disagree with during live chats.
verbtransitiveinformal
Sending a fake police emergency to a person's address in order to frighten them or draw a heavy police response.
Grammar: This is the continuous (-ing) form of the verb 'swat'; it needs an object, as in 'They are swatting a rival gamer.'
Patterns
- be swatting someone
- swat someone during a stream
- swat someone as a prank
They were swatting someone in another state when officers broke down the door.
He admitted swatting someone he had argued with online.
The group was accused of swatting someone to get attention on social media.
Common combinations
- swatting someone as a prank
- The court treated swatting someone as a prank as a serious offense.
- be arrested for swatting someone
- Two men were arrested for swatting someone last month.
- swatting someone during a live stream
- Swatting someone during a live stream forces police to interrupt the broadcast.
- a wave of swatting someone
- Officials reported a wave of swatting someone at schools across the state.
Synonyms and how they differ
- hoax call
- A general term for any false emergency call; 'swatting someone' is more specific because it aims to send armed police to a target.
- prank call
- Usually a harmless joke call; 'swatting someone' is far more serious and can lead to criminal charges.
Word family
Commonly confused: swatting someone or swotting? swatting someone or sweating?
swatting someone vs swotting
British informal for studying hard; it sounds similar but has nothing to do with fake police calls.
swatting someone vs sweating
A different word meaning producing sweat; a spelling or typing error can confuse the two.
Practice
Which sentence uses the phrase correctly?
Choose one answer.
The verb 'swat' takes a direct object, so 'swatting someone' needs no preposition. 'Swatting to someone' wrongly adds 'to', 'swat someone' is the wrong form after 'for', and 'swatting with someone' changes the meaning to doing it together.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “swatting someone”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.