Link Centre Dictionary

sway

US/ˈsweɪ̯/ fairly common
verb (4) noun (2)

verb

1.

move back and forth or sideways

  • “the ship was rocking”
  • “the tall building swayed”
  • “She rocked back and forth on her feet”
Synonyms
2.

move or walk in a swinging or swaying manner

  • “He swung back”
Synonyms
3.

win approval or support for

  • “Carry all before one”
  • “His speech did not sway the voters”
Synonyms
4.

cause to move back and forth

  • “rock the cradle”
  • “rock the baby”
  • “the wind swayed the trees gently”
Synonyms

noun

1.
2.

Origin

From earlier swey (“to fall, swoon”), from Middle English sweyen, from Old English *swǣġan (“to bend, bow”), from Proto-West Germanic *swaigijan, from Proto-Germanic *swaigijaną, from Proto-Indo-European *sweh₁- See also Saterland Frisian swooie (“to swing, wave, wobble”); also Lithuanian svai̇̃gti (“to become giddy or dizzy”), the second element of Avestan 𐬞𐬀𐬌𐬭𐬌-𐬱𐬑𐬎𐬀𐬑𐬙𐬀 (paⁱri-šxuaxta, “to surround”), Sanskrit स्वजते (svájate, “he embraces, enfolds”). The noun derived from the verb.

Phrases

  • anti-sway bar
  • hold sway
  • sway bar

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

Narrower terms

Related verbs

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.