SWUNG DASH

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SWUNG DASH. A name for the tilde (∼) when used in dictionaries as a space-saving device: in an entry for house, ∼boat stands for houseboat and ∼style for house style; in an entry for hero, ∼es stands for heroes. The device is common in bilingual dictionaries, when it is generally called a tilde, and has been extensively used in Oxford dictionaries, but has been disappearing from recent editions. See DASH.