Meaning & use
swatting
Last updated
Meanings
noununcountable
The illegal act of making a false emergency call so that armed police are sent to someone's home, usually to frighten or harass them.
Grammar: Used as an uncountable noun: you say 'swatting is a crime', not 'a swatting'.
Patterns
- swatting of someone
- a case of swatting
- be a victim of swatting
Swatting has become a serious problem for popular online streamers.
He was arrested for swatting after police surrounded a family's house at midnight.
The gaming site now bans users who encourage swatting.
verbtransitive or intransitive
Present participle of swat: hitting something small quickly, especially an insect, with a flat object or the hand.
Grammar: This is the -ing form of the verb swat; it takes an object when you name the thing being hit.
Patterns
- swatting a fly
- swatting at something
- be busy swatting mosquitoes
She stood by the window, swatting mosquitoes with a rolled-up newspaper.
He kept swatting at the wasp but missed every time.
Common combinations
- a swatting hoax
- The call turned out to be a swatting hoax aimed at a teenage gamer.
- be a victim of swatting
- Several journalists say they have been victims of swatting this year.
- swatting incident
- Police logged another swatting incident in the same neighborhood last week.
- carry out swatting
- Investigators say the group carried out swatting across three states.
- anti-swatting laws
- Some states have passed anti-swatting laws with heavy fines.
Synonyms and how they differ
- false alarm
- A false alarm is any mistaken warning of danger and is usually not deliberate, while swatting is a deliberate, targeted hoax.
- hoax call
- A hoax call is any deceptive phone call; swatting is the specific kind that sends armed police to a victim's address.
Word family
Commonly confused: swatting or swotting?
swatting vs swotting
Swotting means studying hard, especially in British English; swatting is either hitting insects or the criminal hoax call.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'swatting' in its modern crime sense?
Choose one answer.
'A swatting attack' means a false emergency call that sends police to a victim's home. Option 0 is the literal insect sense, option 2 confuses it with British 'swotting' (studying), and option 3 is not a normal use of swat.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “swatting”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.