Adjacent Words

Swerve definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

SWERVE, v.i. swerv.
1. To wander; to rove.
The swerving vines on the tall elms prevail.
2. To wander from any line prescribed, or from a rule of duty; to depart from what is established by law, duty or custom; to deviate.
I swerve not from thy commandments.
They swerve from the strict letter of the law.
Many who, through the contagion of evil example, swerve exceedingly from the rules of their holy religion--
3. To bend; to incline.
4. To climb or move forward by winding or turning.
The tree was high,
Yet nimbly up from bough to bough I swerv'd.
[This use of the word coincides with that of swarm, which see.]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: the act of turning aside suddenly [syn: swerve, swerving, veering]
2: an erratic deflection from an intended course [syn: yaw, swerve] v
1: turn sharply; change direction abruptly; "The car cut to the left at the intersection"; "The motorbike veered to the right" [syn: swerve, sheer, curve, trend, veer, slue, slew, cut]

Merriam Webster's

verb (swerved; swerving) Etymology: Middle English, from Old English sweorfan to wipe, file away; akin to Old High German swerban to wipe off, Welsh chwerfu to whirl Date: 14th century intransitive verb to turn aside abruptly from a straight line or course ; deviate transitive verb to cause to turn aside or deviate • swerve noun Synonyms: swerve, veer, deviate, depart, digress, diverge mean to turn aside from a straight course. swerve may suggest a physical, mental, or moral turning away from a given course, often with abruptness <swerved to avoid hitting the dog>. veer implies a major change in direction <at that point the path veers to the right>. deviate implies a turning from a customary or prescribed course <never deviated from her daily routine>. depart suggests a deviation from a traditional or conventional course or type <occasionally departs from his own guidelines>. digress applies to a departing from the subject of one's discourse <a professor prone to digress>. diverge may equal depart but usually suggests a branching of a main path into two or more leading in different directions <after school their paths diverged>.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v. & n. --v.intr. & tr. change or cause to change direction, esp. abruptly. --n. 1 a swerving movement. 2 divergence from a course. Derivatives: swerveless adj. swerver n. Etymology: ME, repr. OE sweorfan SCOUR(1)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Swerve Swerve, v. t. To turn aside. --Gauden.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Swerve Swerve, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Swerved; p. pr. & vb. n. Swerving.] [OE. swerven, AS. sweorfan to wipe off, to file, to polish; akin to OFries. swerva to creep, D. zwerven to swerve, to rope, OS. swerban to wipe off, MHG. swerben to be whirled, OHG. swerban to wipe off, Icel. sverfa to file, Goth. swa['i]rban (in comp.) to wipe, and perhaps to E. swarm. Cf. Swarm.] 1. To stray; to wander; to rope. [Obs.] A maid thitherward did run, To catch her sparrow which from her did swerve. --Sir P. Sidney. 2. To go out of a straight line; to deflect. ``The point [of the sword] swerved.'' --Sir P. Sidney. 3. To wander from any line prescribed, or from a rule or duty; to depart from what is established by law, duty, custom, or the like; to deviate. I swerve not from thy commandments. --Bk. of Com. Prayer. They swerve from the strict letter of the law. --Clarendon. Many who, through the contagion of evil example, swerve exceedingly from the rules of their holy religion. --Atterbury. 4. To bend; to incline. ``The battle swerved.'' --Milton. 5. To climb or move upward by winding or turning. The tree was high; Yet nimbly up from bough to bough I swerved. --Dryden.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(swerves, swerving, swerved) If a vehicle or other moving thing swerves or if you swerve it, it suddenly changes direction, often in order to avoid hitting something. Drivers coming in the opposite direction swerved to avoid the bodies... Her car swerved off the road into a 6ft high brick wall... Suddenly Ned swerved the truck, narrowly missing a blond teenager on a skateboard. VERB: V, V prep/adv, V n • Swerve is also a noun. He swung the car to the left and that swerve saved Malone's life. N-COUNT

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

v. n. 1. Deviate, depart, diverge, turn aside, go astray. 2. Bend, incline, yield, give way. 3. Climb, move upward, swarm, wind.

Moby Thesaurus

L, aberrancy, aberration, about ship, about the bush, alter, ameliorate, angle, angle off, apex, avoid, back and fill, be changed, be converted into, be renewed, bear away, bear off, bear to starboard, beat, beat about, beat around, beg the question, bend, bent, bias, bifurcate, bifurcation, bight, blench, blink, bottom out, box off, branch, branch off, branching off, break, bring about, bring round, cant, cant round, career, cast, cast about, change, change course, change the bearing, change the heading, checker, chevron, chop, chop and change, circuitousness, coin, come about, come around, come round, corner, crank, cringe, crook, crotchet, curve, declination, deflect, deflection, degenerate, depart, depart from, departure, deteriorate, detour, deviance, deviancy, deviate, deviation, deviousness, digress, digression, dip, discursion, divagate, divagation, divaricate, divarication, diverge, divergence, diversify, diversion, dodge, dogleg, double, double a point, draw back, drift, drifting, duck, elbow, ell, equivocate, err, errantry, evade, excursion, excursus, exorbitation, fade, fall back, fence, fetch about, flinch, flop, fork, furcate, furcation, go about, gybe, hairpin, hang back, haul around, heave round, hedge, heel, hem and haw, hook, improve, indirection, inflection, jib, jibe, jibe all standing, knee, lurch, meliorate, miss stays, mitigate, modulate, mutate, nook, oblique, obliquity, parry, pererration, ply, point, pull away, pull back, pussyfoot, put about, put back, put off, quail, quoin, rambling, recoil, reel back, retreat, revive, round a point, sheer, sheer off, shift, shift off, shifting, shifting course, shifting path, shrink, shrink back, shy, shy away, shy off, sidestep, skew, slant, slew, slue, start aside, start back, step aside, stray, straying, sway, sweep, swerving, swing, swing round, swing the stern, swinging, tack, take a turn, throw about, trend, turn, turn aside, turn back, turn into, turn the corner, turning, twist, undergo a change, variation, vary, veer, vertex, wander, wandering, ward off, warp, waver, wear, wear ship, weasel, weasel out, wince, wind, worsen, yaw, zag, zig, zigzag