swazzle

English

Alternative forms

• swatchel
• swozzle

Etymology

From swatchel, probably from German schwätzeln, from schwatzen.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈswɒz(ə)l/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɒzəl

Noun

swazzle (plural swazzles)

1. A device to change the voice to make it more raspy, used in Punch and Judy performances

Verb

swazzle (third-person singular simple present swazzles, present participle swazzling, simple past and past participle swazzled)

1. (transitive, intransitive) To speak using a swazzle.
   • 2005, Bill Drummond, Mark Manning, The Wild Highway, page 384:

     Of course there was more to swazzling than what I could do instinctively. I had to learn to switch from the swazzled voice of Punch to the pantomime-dame voice of Judy.

   • 2018, Robert Charles Hines, Twists and Turns: 13 Tales of the Uneasy, page 126:

     In the background, Mr Punch could be heard swazzling, “That's the way to do it!”