swat 復習
米国コロラド州のキャンプ場で働いている10代の男の子が、寝ている間にクマに襲われたという記事からです。
Teen bit in head by bear wakes up to 'crunching sound'
A teen staffer at a Colorado camp fought off a bear after waking up Sunday to find the animal biting his head and trying to drag him away.
The 19-year-old woke up at around 4 a.m. to a "crunching sound" with his head inside the mouth of the bear, which was trying to pull him out of his sleeping bag as he slept outside at Glacier View Ranch 48 miles (77 kilometers) northwest of Denver, Colorado Parks and Wildlife spokeswoman Jennifer Churchill said. The teen punched and hit it and other staffers who were sleeping nearby yelled and swatted at the bear, which eventually left, she said.
The staffer, identified only as Dylan, was treated briefly at a hospital and released.
The teen told KMGH-TV that the bear dragged him ten to 12 feet before he was able to free himself.
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/teen-bit-head-bear-wakes-crunching-sound-48534802
記事の中で気になった単語は"swat"です。"yelled and swatted"で「叫んで脅かした」のような意味になるかなと予測しました。
LDOCEを見てみると、"to hit an insect in order to kill it"と定義されていました。攻撃の手段を表す語であり、虫などに対してよく使われることが分かります。『ジーニアス英和辞典』第４版（大修館）で引き直してみると、「（ハエなどを）ピシャリと打つ」とあり、名詞でも「ピシャリと打つこと、ハエたたき」という意味があることが分かりました。
したがって、襲われた青年の近くに寝ていた他のスタッフたちは、クマを退治しようと叫び、殴ったということが述べられています。(Akim)
