to swing over
1
5.8
- phrasal verb
- /swɪŋ ˈoʊvər/
- The campaign manager worked tirelessly to swing over undecided voters in her district.
Examples
-
Then, as more and more people swing over to the proper strategy, things start to turn around.
Blog text (13) -
With a powerful speech, the senator managed to swing over many critics to his side.
-
The new evidence presented by the lawyer could swing over the jury's opinion in favor of the defendant.
Synonyms
240
3.0
Make someone think differently about something
113
3.3
Get someone to support or agree with you
90
3.6
To cause someone to change their opinion or decision
24
4.5
Make people change their opinion or a decision
11
7.1
Persuade someone to do what you want
10
4.4
Get someone to agree or do something by pressuring them
7
3.6
To cause someone to change their mind
Antonyms
How Persuasive
Surface Forms
Morphology
swing + over
The meaning is directly derivable from combining 'swing' (to sway or influence) with 'over' (to the other side), so the image of moving someone to the opposite side maps cleanly onto changing opinion or allegiance. This motion/metaphor-based composition is a common phrasal pattern cross-linguistically, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents would likely infer the MWE meaning.
Etymology
Swing over may come from the image of a board or balance that swings and goes over to the other side after one small push, changing which side is down. So, to 'swing over' someone means to give that push that changes their opinion or choice.