swim the Thames

verb

To convert to Anglicanism.

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Meanings

verbswim the Thames (third-person singular simple present swims the Thames, present participle swimming the Thames, simple past swam the Thames, past participle swum the Thames)

present singular third person swims the Thames · participle present swimming the Thames · past swam the Thames · participle past swum the Thames · alternative cross the Thames

  1. intransitiveTo convert to Anglicanism.

    […] Philip Jenkins, himself an ex-Catholic who swam the Thames, speculates that the rates of decline in his adopted Church are so steep that the last American Episcopalian may have been born.

    2019 March 11, Filip Mazurczak, “A Unique Credo and Affirmation of Faith by a Distinctive Mind”, in The Catholic World Report, Ignatius Press, archived from the original on 29 Nov 2022
  2. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see swim, the, Thames.

Origin

Variant of swim the Tiber, by substitution of London’s river Thames for Rome’s river Tiber.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

swim the Thames. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/swim%20the%20Thames

MLA

“swim the Thames.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/swim%20the%20Thames. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “swim the Thames,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/swim%20the%20Thames.

Source: swim the Thames on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.