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Romeo and Juliet Glossary
thy swashing blow (1.1)

    Draw, if you be men. Gregory, remember thy swashing blow. (49)

thy swashing blow, that crushing blow of yours for which you are so famous. To 'swash' is to strike with a heavy and sounding blow. Shakespeare also uses the word in the sense of 'swaggering,' A.Y.L. i.3.122, "We'll have a swashing and a martial outside"; and swasher for a bully, H.V. iii.2.30, "As young as I am, I have observed these three swashers."

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Shakespeare, William. Romeo and Juliet. Ed. K. Deighton. New York: MacMillan and Co., 1903. Shakespeare Online. 20 Aug. 2010. (date when you accessed the information) < http://www.shakespeare-online.com/plays/romeoandjuliet/romeoglossswashing.html >.

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