Adjacent Words

Thwart definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

THWART, a. thwort. [L. verto, versus.] Transverse; being across something else.
Mov'd contrary with thwart obliquities.
THWART, v.t. thwort. To cross; to be, lie or come across the direction of something.
Swift as a shooting star
In autumn thwarts the night.
1. To cross, as a purpose; to oppose; to contravene; hence, to frustrate or defeat. We say, to thwart a purpose, design or inclination; or to thwart a person.
If crooked fortune had not thwarted me.
The proposals of the one never thwarted the inclinations of the other.
THWART, v.i. To be in opposition.
--A proposition that shall thwart at all with these internal oracles. [Unusual and improper.]
THWART, n. The seat or bench of a boat on which the rowers sit.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a crosspiece spreading the gunnels of a boat; used as a seat in a rowboat [syn: thwart, cross thwart] v
1: hinder or prevent (the efforts, plans, or desires) of; "What ultimately frustrated every challenger was Ruth's amazing September surge"; "foil your opponent" [syn: thwart, queer, spoil, scotch, foil, cross, frustrate, baffle, bilk]

Merriam Webster's

I. transitive verb Etymology: Middle English thwerten, from thwert, adverb Date: 13th century 1. a. to run counter to so as to effectively oppose or baffle ; contravene b. to oppose successfully ; defeat the hopes or aspirations of 2. to pass through or across Synonyms: see frustrate • thwarter noun II. adverb Etymology: Middle English thwert, from Old Norse thvert, from neuter of thverr transverse, oblique; akin to Old High German dwerah transverse, oblique Date: 14th century athwart III. adjective Date: 14th century situated or placed across something else ; transverse • thwartly adverb IV. noun Etymology: alteration of obsolete thought, thoft, from Middle English thoft, from Old English thofte; akin to Old High German dofta rower's seat Date: circa 1736 a seat extending athwart a boat

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v., n., prep., & adv. --v.tr. frustrate or foil (a person or purpose etc.). --n. a rower's seat placed across a boat. --prep. & adv. archaic across, athwart. Etymology: ME thwert (adv.) f. ON thvert neut. of thverr transverse = OE thwe(o)rh f. Gmc

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Thwart Thwart, v. i. 1. To move or go in an oblique or crosswise manner. [R.] 2. Hence, to be in opposition; to clash. [R.] Any proposition . . . that shall at all thwart with internal oracles. --Locke.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Thwart Thwart, a. [OE. [thorn]wart, [thorn]wert, a. and adv., Icel. [thorn]vert, neut. of [thorn]verr athwart, transverse, across; akin to AS. [thorn]weorh perverse, transverse, cross, D. dwars, OHG. dwerah, twerh, G. zwerch, quer, Dan. & Sw. tver athwart, transverse, Sw. tv["a]r cross, unfriendly, Goth. [thorn]wa['i]rhs angry. Cf. Queer.] 1. Situated or placed across something else; transverse; oblique. Moved contrary with thwart obliquities. --Milton. 2. Fig.: Perverse; crossgrained. [Obs.] --Shak.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Thwart Thwart, adv. [See Thwart, a.] Thwartly; obliquely; transversely; athwart. [Obs.] --Milton.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Thwart Thwart, prep. Across; athwart. --Spenser. Thwart ships. See Athwart ships, under Athwart.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Thwart Thwart, n. (Naut.) A seat in an open boat reaching from one side to the other, or athwart the boat.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Thwart Thwart, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Thwarted; p. pr. & vb. n. Thwarting.] 1. To move across or counter to; to cross; as, an arrow thwarts the air. [Obs.] Swift as a shooting star In autumn thwarts the night. --Milton. 2. To cross, as a purpose; to oppose; to run counter to; to contravene; hence, to frustrate or defeat. If crooked fortune had not thwarted me. --Shak. The proposals of the one never thwarted the inclinations of the other. --South.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(thwarts, thwarting, thwarted) If you thwart someone or thwart their plans, you prevent them from doing or getting what they want. The accounting firm deliberately destroyed documents to thwart government investigators... VERB: V n

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

v. a. 1. Traverse, cross, intersect, lie across, move across. 2. Hinder, oppose, oppugn, obstruct, contravene, counteract, disconcert, cross. 3. Frustrate, defeat, balk.

Moby Thesaurus

across, across the grain, annul, athwart, athwartships, baffle, balk, beat, bench, bendwise, bias, biased, biaswise, bilk, blast, block, brace, brave, bring to nothing, buffer, cancel, cancel out, cast down, catercorner, catercornered, challenge, check, checkmate, circumvent, come to nothing, confound, confront, contrariwise, contravene, contrawise, counter, counteract, counterbalance, countermand, counterwork, crisscross, cross, cross-grained, crossing, crossway, crossways, crosswise, curb, dash, defeat, defeat expectation, defy, destroy, diagonal, disappoint, discomfit, disconcert, discountenance, dish, disillusion, disrupt, dissatisfy, elude, flummox, foil, foul up, frustrate, gum up, hinder, impede, invalidate, kittycorner, knock the chocks, let down, negate, negativate, negative, neutralize, nonplus, nullify, oblique, obliquely, obstruct, offset, oppose, overthwart, perplex, queer, restrain, ruin, sabotage, scotch, short-circuit, sideways, sidewise, slant, spike, spoil, stonewall, stop, stultify, stump, style, stymie, tantalize, tease, thwartly, thwartways, transversal, transverse, transversely, traverse, undo, upset, vitiate, void