From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishswivelswiv‧el1 /ˈswɪvəl/ (also swivel around/round) verb (swivelled, swivelling British English, swiveled, swiveling American English) [intransitive, transitive]TURN to turn around quickly and face a different direction, or to make something do this → spin Anna swivelled round to face him. She swivelled her head round to watch what was happening. Danny swiveled his chair away from me.→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
swivel• Kovitsky swiveled around to look at her.• These cover a wide field of view without having to swivel as human eyes do.• These swivel freely and act as weathervanes.• As Agnes looked down Granny's eyes sprang open and swivelled from side to side.• Ralph swivelled in his chair and looked directly at Meg.• His eyes seemed to be trying to imitate a lizard and swivel in opposite directions.• When there was nowhere to go in that infernally small space, one could always swivel in the other direction.• The satellite has difficulty swiveling its antenna toward Earth.• Mr Tench swivelled round in astonishment as the men burst through his office door.• He swivelled the camera on the tripod to follow her as she crossed the yard.• She swivelled the computer screen around so that I could see it too.swivelswivel2 noun [countable] DTan object that joins two parts of something and helps it to turn aroundExamples from the Corpus
swivel• Affixed to the wall at a considerable height is a small television on a swivel, facing the bed.• She looks around her with a swivel of her huge head.Origin swivel2 (1200-1300) swif-, from the past participle of Old English swifan “to move along, sweep” 