Other forms: swatting, swatted
To swat is to hit something small and moving with one quick, flat smack. A fly on the window, a wasp near the jam, a mosquito on your arm. Rolled-up newspaper, flat of the hand, tea towel — whatever is nearest and flat.
A swatter is the plastic paddle on a stick made for the job, and a swat is the blow itself. The verb doubles the t: swatted, swatting. People swat away things that are not insects, too — a hand reaching for the bowl, a question they do not want to answer. Watch out for SWAT in capitals, which has nothing to do with flies: it is the American police unit, Special Weapons And Tactics.
1verbswatTo hit something small with a quick, flat blow.
“He swatted the fly against the window and missed.”
2verbpushTo push or wave something away with a sharp movement of the hand.
“She swatted his hand away from the bowl.”
3nounquickA quick, flat blow.
“The cat gave the toy a lazy swat.”
swat is a kind of blow.
Swat began as a regional variant of squat — the same word, reshaped in local speech. The two then drifted apart in sound and sense until nothing obvious connects a crouch with a smack.
Alteration of squat.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA