A swing is a hanging seat, often found at playgrounds for children including adults a circus for acrobats, or on a porch for relaxing, although they may also be items of indoor furniture, such as the Indian oonjal. The seat of a swing may be suspended from chains or ropes. Once a swing is in motion it continues to oscillate like a pendulum until external interference or drag brings it to a halt. Swing sets are very popular with children.
On playgrounds, several swings are often suspended from the same metal or wooden frame, known as a swing set, allowing more than one child to play at a time. Such swings come in a variety of sizes and shapes. For infants and toddlers, swings with leg holes support the child in an upright position while a parent or sibling pushes the child to get a swinging motion. Some swing sets include play items other than swings, such as a rope ladder or sliding pole.
For older children, swings are sometimes made of a flexible canvas seat, of rubberized ventilated tire tread, of plastic, or of wood. A common backyard sight is a wooden plank suspended on both sides by ropes from a tree branch.
A marginal seat or swing seat is a constituency held with a small majority in a legislative election, generally one conducted under a single-winner voting system. In Canada, they may be known as target ridings. The opposite is a safe seat.
These seats only require a small swing to change hands and therefore are typically the focus of most campaign resources. The concentration of money and manpower in areas where they will make the most difference is known as targeting.
The creation of policy that will benefit a particular seat, at the expense of other taxpayers, is known as pork barreling.
Political parties often face tension between the holders of marginal seats and safe seats. Safe seats tend to be allocated far less discretionary resources—governmental as well as political—from their political party than do marginal seats.
A similar phenomenon happens in United States presidential elections, where the Electoral College system means that candidates must win states rather than votes. Again, resources are concentrated towards the swing states with the smallest majorities.