swing the lead

verb

To avoid work, especially by pretending to be ill; to shirk, to malinger.

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Meanings

verbswing the lead (third-person singular simple present swings the lead, present participle swinging the lead, simple past and past participle swung the lead)

present singular third person swings the lead · participle present swinging the lead · participle past swung the lead · past swung the lead

  1. intransitiveTo avoid work, especially by pretending to be ill; to shirk, to malinger.

    I said, ‘Well, how d'you like having to do some work for a change, instead of swinging the lead at Fort Hommet?’

    1974, GB Edwards, The Book of Ebenezer Le Page, New York, published 2007, page 129
    1 more example

    Though he was by no means inclined to help carry a gas-cylinder on a pole, while watching the working party fall in on the road that night, Bourne felt rather out of it; he felt as though he were swinging the lead.

    1929, Frederic Manning, The Middle Parts of Fortune, Vintage, published 2014, page 93

Synonyms & antonyms

Also see
cop outlollygagshirk
Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

Source: swing the lead on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.