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Webster 1913 Edition

Traverse

Trav′erse

,
Adj.
[OF.
travers
, L.
transversus
, p. p. of
transvertere
to turn or direct across. See
Transverse
, and cf.
Travers
.]
Lying across; being in a direction across something else;
as, paths cut with
traverse
trenches
.
Oak . . . being strong in all positions, may be better trusted in cross and
traverse
work.
Sir H. Wotton.
The ridges of the fallow field
traverse
.
Hayward.
Traverse drill
(Mach.)
,
a machine tool for drilling slots, in which the work or tool has a lateral motion back and forth; also, a drilling machine in which the spindle holder can be adjusted laterally.

Trav′erse

,
adv.
Athwart; across; crosswise.

Trav′erse

,
Noun.
[F.
traverse
. See
Traverse
,
Adj.
]
1.
Anything that traverses, or crosses.
Specifically: –
(a)
Something that thwarts, crosses, or obstructs; a cross accident; as, he would have succeeded, had it not been for unlucky traverses not under his control.
(b)
A barrier, sliding door, movable screen, curtain, or the like.
Men drinken and the
travers
draw anon.
Chaucer.
And the entrance of the king,
The first
traverse
was drawn.
F. Beaumont.
(c)
(Arch.)
A gallery or loft of communication from side to side of a church or other large building.
Gwilt.
(d)
(Fort.)
A work thrown up to intercept an enfilade, or reverse fire, along exposed passage, or line of work.
(e)
(Law)
A formal denial of some matter of fact alleged by the opposite party in any stage of the pleadings. The technical words introducing a traverse are absque hoc, without this; that is, without this which follows.
(f)
(Naut.)
The zigzag course or courses made by a ship in passing from one place to another; a compound course.
(g)
(Geom.)
A line lying across a figure or other lines; a transversal.
(h)
(Surv.)
A line surveyed across a plot of ground.
(i)
(Gun.)
The turning of a gun so as to make it point in any desired direction.
2.
A turning; a trick; a subterfuge.
[Obs.]
To work a traverse
or
To solve a traverse
(Naut.)
,
to reduce a series of courses or distances to an equivalent single one; to calculate the resultant of a traverse.
–
Traverse board
(Naut.)
,
a small board hung in the steerage, having the points of the compass marked on it, and for each point as many holes as there are half hours in a watch. It is used for recording the courses made by the ship in each half hour, by putting a peg in the corresponding hole.
–
Traverse jury
(Law)
,
a jury that tries cases; a petit jury.
–
Traverse sailing
(Naut.)
,
a sailing by compound courses; the method or process of finding the resulting course and distance from a series of different shorter courses and distances actually passed over by a ship.
–
Traverse table
.
(a)
(Naut. & Surv.)
A table by means of which the difference of latitude and departure corresponding to any given course and distance may be found by inspection. It contains the lengths of the two sides of a right-angled triangle, usually for every quarter of a degree of angle, and for lengths of the hypothenuse, from 1 to 100.
(b)
(Railroad)
A platform with one or more tracks, and arranged to move laterally on wheels, for shifting cars, etc., from one line of track to another.

Trav′erse

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Traversed
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Traversing
.]
[Cf. F.
traverser
. See
Traverse
,
Adj.
]
1.
To lay in a cross direction; to cross.
The parts should be often
traversed
, or crossed, by the flowing of the folds.
Dryden.
2.
To cross by way of opposition; to thwart with obstacles; to obstruct; to bring to naught.
I can not but . . . admit the force of this reasoning, which I yet hope to
traverse
.
Sir W. Scott.
3.
To wander over; to cross in traveling;
as, to
traverse
the habitable globe
.
What seas you
traversed
, and what fields you fought.
Pope.
4.
To pass over and view; to survey carefully.
My purpose is to
traverse
the nature, principles, and properties of this detestable vice – ingratitude.
South.
5.
(Gun.)
To turn to the one side or the other, in order to point in any direction;
as, to
traverse
a cannon
.
6.
(Carp.)
To plane in a direction across the grain of the wood;
as, to
traverse
a board
.
7.
(Law)
To deny formally, as what the opposite party has alleged. When the plaintiff or defendant advances new matter, he avers it to be true, and traverses what the other party has affirmed. To traverse an indictment or an office is to deny it.
And save the expense of long litigious laws,
Where suits are
traversed
, and so little won
That he who conquers is but last undone.
Dryden.
To traverse a yard
(Naut.)
,
to brace it fore and aft.

Trav′erse

,
Verb.
I.
1.
To use the posture or motions of opposition or counteraction, as in fencing.
To see thee fight, to see thee foin, to see thee
traverse
.
Shakespeare
2.
To turn, as on a pivot; to move round; to swivel;
as, the needle of a compass
traverses
; if it does not
traverse
well, it is an unsafe guide.
3.
To tread or move crosswise, as a horse that throws his croup to one side and his head to the other.

Webster 1828 Edition

Traverse

TRAV'ERSE

,
adv.
Athwart; crosswise.
The ridges of the field lay traverse.

TRAV'ERSE

, prep. [supra.] Through crosswise.
He traverse
The whole battalion views their order due. [Little used.]

TRAV'ERSE

,
Adj.
[L. versus; transversus.] Lying across; being in a direction across something else; as paths cut with traverse trenches.
Oak--may be trusted in traverse work for summers.

TRAV'ERSE

,
Noun.
[supra.] Any thing laid or built across.
There is a traverse placed in the loft where she sitteth.
1.
Something that thwarts, crosses or obstructs; a cross accident. He is satisfied he should have succeeded, had it not been for unlucky traverses not in his power.
2.
In fortification, a trench with a little parapet for protecting men on the flank; also, a wall raised across a work.
3.
In navigation, traverse-sailing is the mode of computing the place of a ship by reducing several short courses made by sudden shifts or turns, to one longer course.
4.
In law, a denial of what the opposite party has advanced in any state of the pleadings. When the traverse or denial comes from the defendant, the issue is tendered in this manner, 'and of this he puts himself on the country.' When the traverse lies on the plaintiff, he prays 'this may be inquired of by the country.'
The technical words introducing a traverse are absque hoc, without this; that is, without this which follows.
5.
A turning; a trick.

TRAV'ERSE

,
Verb.
T.
To cross; to lay in a cross direction.
The parts should be often traversed or crossed by the flowing of the folds.
1.
To cross by way of opposition; to thwart; to obstruct.
Frog thought to traverse this new project.
2.
To wander over; to cross in traveling; as, to traverse the habitable globe.
What seas you travers'd, and what fields you fought.
3.
To pass over and view; to survey carefully.
My purpose is to traverse the nature, principles and properties of this detestable vice, ingratitude.
4.
To turn and point in any direction; as, to traverse a cannon.
5.
To plane in a direction across the grain of the wood; as, to traverse a board.
6.
In law pleadings, to deny what the opposite party has alleged. When the plaintiff or defendant advances new matter, he avers it to be true, and traverses what the other party has affirmed. So to traverse an indictment or an office, is to deny it.
To traverse a yard, in sailing, is to brace it aft.

TRAV'ERSE

,
Verb.
I.
In fencing, to use the posture or motions of opposition or counteraction.
To see thee fight, to see thee traverse--
1.
To turn, as on a pivot; to move round; to swivel. The needle of a compass traverses; if it does not traverse well, it is an unsafe guide.
2.
In the manege, to cut the tread crosswise, as a horse that throws his croup to one side and his head to the other.

Definition 2024

traverse

traverse

See also: traversé

English

Noun

traverse ‎(plural traverses)

  1. (climbing) A route used in mountaineering, specifically rock climbing, in which the descent occurs by a different route than the ascent.
  2. (surveying) A series of points, with angles and distances measured between, traveled around a subject, usually for use as "control" i.e. angular reference system for later surveying work.
  3. (obsolete) A screen or partition.
    • 1499, John Skelton, The Bowge of Court:
      Than sholde ye see there pressynge in a pace / Of one and other that wolde this lady see, / Whiche sat behynde a traves of sylke fyne, / Of golde of tessew the fynest that myghte be […]
    • F. Beaumont
      At the entrance of the king, / The first traverse was drawn.
  4. Something that thwarts or obstructs.
    He will succeed, as long as there are no unlucky traverses not under his control.
  5. (architecture) A gallery or loft of communication from side to side of a church or other large building.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Gwilt to this entry?)
  6. (law) A formal denial of some matter of fact alleged by the opposite party in any stage of the pleadings. The technical words introducing a traverse are absque hoc ("without this", i.e. without what follows).
  7. (nautical) The zigzag course or courses made by a ship in passing from one place to another; a compound course.
  8. (geometry) A line lying across a figure or other lines; a transversal.

Translations

Related terms

Verb

traverse ‎(third-person singular simple present traverses, present participle traversing, simple past and past participle traversed)

  1. (transitive) To travel across, often under difficult conditions.
    He will have to traverse the mountain to get to the other side.
    • Alexander Pope
      what seas you traversed, and what fields you fought
  2. (transitive, computing) To visit all parts of; to explore thoroughly.
    to traverse all nodes in a network
  3. To lay in a cross direction; to cross.
    • Dryden
      The parts should be often traversed, or crossed, by the flowing of the folds.
  4. (artillery) To rotate a gun around a vertical axis to bear upon a military target.
    to traverse a cannon
  5. (climbing), To climb or descend a steep hill at a wide angle (relative to the slope).
  6. (engineering), (skiing) To (make a cutting, an incline) across the gradients of a sloped face at safe rate.
    the road traversed the face of the ridge as the right-of-way climbed the mountain
    The last run, weary, I traversed the descents in no hurry to reach the lodge.
  7. To cross by way of opposition; to thwart with obstacles; to obstruct.
    • Sir Walter Scott
      I cannot but […] admit the force of this reasoning, which I yet hope to traverse.
  8. To pass over and view; to survey carefully.
    • South
      My purpose is to traverse the nature, principles, and properties of this detestable vice — ingratitude.
  9. (carpentry) To plane in a direction across the grain of the wood.
    to traverse a board
  10. (law) To deny formally.
    • Dryden
      And save the expense of long litigious laws, / Where suits are traversed, and so little won / That he who conquers is but last undone.

Translations

Adverb

traverse ‎(comparative more traverse, superlative most traverse)

  1. athwart; across; crosswise

Adjective

traverse ‎(comparative more traverse, superlative most traverse)

  1. Lying across; being in a direction across something else.
    paths cut with traverse trenches
    • Sir H. Wotton
      Oak […] being strong in all positions, may be better trusted in cross and traverse work.
    • Hayward
      the ridges of the fallow field traverse

Derived terms

  • traverse drill

Anagrams

French

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /tʁa.vɛʁs/

Etymology 1

Vulgar Latin traversa, feminine of traversus.

Noun

traverse f ‎(plural traverses)

  1. (rail transport) sleeper (UK), tie (US)

Etymology 2

Inflected forms.

Verb

traverse

  1. first-person singular present indicative of traverser
  2. third-person singular present indicative of traverser
  3. first-person singular present subjunctive of traverser
  4. first-person singular present subjunctive of traverser
  5. second-person singular imperative of traverser

Anagrams

Italian

Adjective

traverse

  1. feminine plural of traverso

Noun

traverse f

  1. plural of traversa

Anagrams

Etymology

From Old French traverser, from Latin trans across + versus turned, perfect passive participle of vertere, turn

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈtɹævə(ɹ)s/, /tɹəˈvə(ɹ)s/

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