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Webster 1913 Edition

Sway

Sway

(swā)
,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Swayed
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Swaying
.]
[OE.
sweyen
, Icel.
sveigja
, akin to E.
swing
; cf. D.
zwaaijen
to wield, swing. See
Swing
, and cf.
Swag
,
Verb.
I.
]
1.
To move or wield with the hand; to swing; to wield;
as, to
sway
the scepter
.
As sparkles from the anvil rise,
When heavy hammers on the wedge are
swayed
.
Spenser.
2.
To influence or direct by power and authority; by persuasion, or by moral force; to rule; to govern; to guide.
The will of man is by his reason
swayed
.
Shakespeare
She could not
sway
her house.
Shakespeare
This was the race
To
sway
the world, and land and sea subdue.
Dryden.
3.
To cause to incline or swing to one side, or backward and forward; to bias; to turn; to bend; warp;
as, reeds
swayed
by wind; judgment
swayed
by passion
.
As bowls run true by being made
On purpose false, and to be
swayed
.
Hudibras.
Let not temporal and little advantages
sway
you against a more durable interest.
Tillotson.
4.
(Naut.)
To hoist;
as, to
sway
up the yards
.
Syn. – To bias; rule; govern; direct; influence; swing; move; wave; wield.

Sway

(swā)
,
Verb.
I.
1.
To be drawn to one side by weight or influence; to lean; to incline.
The balance
sways
on our part.
Bacon.
2.
To move or swing from side to side; or backward and forward.
3.
To have weight or influence.
The example of sundry churches . . . doth
sway
much.
Hooker.
4.
To bear sway; to rule; to govern.
Hadst thou
swayed
as kings should do.
Shakespeare

Sway

,
Noun.
1.
The act of swaying; a swaying motion; the swing or sweep of a weapon.
With huge two-handed
sway
brandished aloft.
Milton.
2.
Influence, weight, or authority that inclines to one side;
as, the
sway
of desires
.
A. Tucker.
3.
Preponderance; turn or cast of balance.
Expert
When to advance, or stand, or turn the
sway

Of battle.
Milton.
4.
Rule; dominion; control.
Cowper.
When vice prevails, and impious men bear
sway
,
The post of honor is a private station.
Addison.
5.
A switch or rod used by thatchers to bind their work.
[Prov. Eng.]
Halliwell.
Syn. – Rule; dominion; power; empire; control; influence; direction; preponderance; ascendency.

Webster 1828 Edition

Sway

SWAY

, v.t.
1.
To move or wave; to wield with the hand; as, to sway the scepter.
2.
To bias; to cause to lean or incline to one side. Let not temporal advantages sway you from the line of duty. The king was swayed by his council from the course he intended to pursue.
As bowls run true by being made
On purpose false, and to be sway'd.
3.
To rule; to govern; to influence or direct by power and authority, or by moral force.
This was the race
To sway the world, and land and sea subdue.
She could not sway her house.
Take heed lest passion sway
Thy judgment to do aught which else free will
Would not admit.

SWAY

,
Verb.
I.
To be drawn to one side by weight; to lean. A wall sways to the west.
The balance sways on our part.
[This sense seems to indicate that this word and swag, are radically one.]
1.
To have weight or influence.
The example of sundry churches--doth sway much.
2.
To bear rule; to govern.
Had'st thou sway'd as kings should do--
3.
In seamen's language, to hoist, particularly applied to the lower yards and to the topmast yards, &c.

SWAY

,
Noun.
The swing or sweep of a weapon.
To strike with huge two-handed sway.
1.
Any thing moving with bulk and power.
Are not you mov'd when all the sway of earth.
Shakes like a thing unfirm?
2.
Preponderation; turn or cast of balance.
--Expert
When to advance, or stand, or turn the sway of battle.
3.
Power exerted in governing; rule; dominion; control.
When vice prevails and impious men bear sway,
The post of honor is a private station.
4.
Influence; weight or authority that inclines to one side; as the sway of desires. All the world is subject to the sway of fashion.

Definition 2024

sway

sway

English

Noun

sway ‎(plural sways)

  1. The act of swaying; a swaying motion; a swing or sweep of a weapon.
  2. A rocking or swinging motion.
    The old song caused a little sway in everyone in the room.
  3. Influence, weight, or authority that inclines to one side; as, the sway of desires.
    I doubt I'll hold much sway with someone so powerful.
  4. Preponderance; turn or cast of balance.
  5. Rule; dominion; control.
  6. A switch or rod used by thatchers to bind their work.
  7. The maximum amplitude of a vehicle's lateral motion

Translations

Verb

sway ‎(third-person singular simple present sways, present participle swaying, simple past and past participle swayed)

  1. To move or swing from side to side; or backward and forward; to rock.
    sway to the music;  The trees swayed in the breeze.‎
    • 1907, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, “chapter V”, in The Younger Set (Project Gutenberg; EBook #14852), New York, N.Y.: A. L. Burt Company, published 1 February 2005 (Project Gutenberg version), OCLC 4241346:
      Breezes blowing from beds of iris quickened her breath with their perfume; she saw the tufted lilacs sway in the wind, and the streamers of mauve-tinted wistaria swinging, all a-glisten with golden bees; she saw a crimson cardinal winging through the foliage, and amorous tanagers flashing like scarlet flames athwart the pines.
  2. To move or wield with the hand; to swing; to wield.
    to sway the sceptre‎
    • Edmund Spenser (c.1552–1599)
      As sparkles from the anvil rise, / When heavy hammers on the wedge are swayed.
  3. To influence or direct by power, authority, persuasion, or by moral force; to rule; to govern; to guide. Compare persuade.
    Do you think you can sway their decision?‎
    • John Dryden (1631-1700)
      This was the race / To sway the world, and land and sea subdue.
  4. To cause to incline or swing to one side, or backward and forward; to bias; to turn; to bend; warp.
    reeds swayed by the wind;  judgment swayed by passion‎
    • John Tillotson (1630-1694)
      Let not temporal and little advantages sway you against a more durable interest.
  5. (nautical) To hoist (a mast or yard) into position.
    to sway up the yards‎
  6. To be drawn to one side by weight or influence; to lean; to incline.
  7. To have weight or influence.
    • Richard Hooker (1554-1600)
      The example of sundry churches […] doth sway much.
  8. To bear sway; to rule; to govern.

Translations

See also

Anagrams

Etymology

Earlier swey ‎(“to fall, swoon”), from Middle English sweyen, from Old Norse sveigja ‎(“to bend, bow”), from Proto-Germanic *swaigijaną (compare Saterland Frisian swooie ‎(“to swing, wave, wobble”), Dutch zwaaien, Dutch Low Saxon sweuen ‎(“to sway in the wind”), from Proto-Indo-European *swaig- (compare Lithuanian svaĩgti ‎(“to become giddy or dizzy”), the second element of Avestan [script needed] ‎(pairi-šxuaxta, “to surround”), Sanskrit स्वजते ‎(svájate, “he embraces, enfolds”)). Cognate to Proto-Slavic *čьvati ‎(“swell, become bigger”), Old Greek κυέω ‎(kyéo, “become pregnant”).

Pronunciation

  • enPR: swā, IPA(key): /sweɪ/
  • Rhymes: -eɪ

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