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to swing over

to swing over

5.8
Make someone change their opinion or decision
  • phrasal verb
  • /swɪŋ ˈoʊvər/
translation icon : convencer
  • 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

to sway
vsto swing over
81 3.6

To cause someone to change their opinion or decision

does this decisively shifting opinion or allegiance clearly
to win over
vsto swing over
54 3.3

Get someone to support or agree with you

is about decisive influence rather than only gaining support
to swing
vsto swing over
  • Jargon
51 4.5

Make people change their opinion or a decision

is limited to changing personal opinions allegiances or decisions
to change someone's mind
vsto swing over
18 3.0

Make someone think differently about something

does so decisively often shifting allegiance or final decision
to bring around
vsto swing over
  • Informal
3 3.6

To cause someone to change their mind

does this by decisive influence rather than just causing gradual change
to twist someone's arm
vsto swing over
  • Informal
1 4.4

Get someone to agree or do something by pressuring them

aims to influence opinions or allegiances decisively rather than forcing actions
to bend someone's will
vsto swing over
7.1

Persuade someone to do what you want

influences decisively to change opinion not necessarily forcing compliance

Antonyms

218 3.6

Not supporting either side in a conflict

How Persuasive

to swing over
5.8
to win over
54 3.3
to persuade
472 2.7
influence
806 2.3
to suggest
1.6

Surface Forms

swing over infinitive
swinging over present participle
swings over third person singular
swung over past
swung over past participle

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.