n. [ Probably fr. AS. swe&unr_;ian to bind. ] [ Written also swod. ] 1. A cod, or pod, as of beans or pease. [ Prov. Eng. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Swad, in the north, is a peascod shell -- thence used for an empty, shallow-headed fellow. Blount. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A clown; a country bumpkin. [ Obs. or Prov. Eng. ] “Country swains, and silly swads.” Greene. [ 1913 Webster ]

There was one busy fellow was their leader,
A blunt, squat swad, but lower than yourself. B. Jonson. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A lump of mass; also, a crowd. [ Low, U.S. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

4. (Coal Mining) A thin layer of refuse at the bottom of a seam. Raymond. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Swaddled p. pr. & vb. n. Swaddling ] 1. To bind as with a bandage; to bind or warp tightly with clothes; to swathe; -- used esp. of infants; as, to swaddle a baby. [ 1913 Webster ]

They swaddled me up in my nightgown with long pieces of linen. Addison. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To beat; to cudgel. [ Obs. ] Hudibras. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ AS. swe&unr_;il, swe&unr_;el, fr. swe&unr_;ain to bind. See Swathe. ] Anything used to swaddle with, as a cloth or band; a swaddling band. [ 1913 Webster ]

They put me in bed in all my swaddles. Addison. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Zool.) The shoveler. [ Local, U.S. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A term of contempt for an Irish Methodist. Shipley. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. & n. from Swaddle, v. [ 1913 Webster ]

Swaddling band,
Swaddling cloth, or
Swaddling clout, a band or cloth wrapped round an infant, especially round a newborn infant. [ 1913 Webster ]

Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. Luke ii. 12. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ 1st pref. un- + swaddle. ] To take a swaddle from; to unswathe. [ 1913 Webster ]