Library / English Dictionary

SWAY

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Pitching dangerously to one side

Synonyms:

careen; rock; sway; tilt

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("sway" is a kind of...):

lurch; pitch; pitching (abrupt up-and-down motion (as caused by a ship or other conveyance))

Derivation:

sway (move back and forth or sideways)

sway (cause to move back and forth)

sway (move or walk in a swinging or swaying manner)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Controlling influence

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Hypernyms ("sway" is a kind of...):

power; powerfulness (possession of controlling influence)

Derivation:

sway (move back and forth or sideways)

sway (win approval or support for)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Move back and forth or sideways

Example:

She rocked back and forth on her feet

Synonyms:

rock; shake; sway

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Hypernyms (to "sway" is one way to...):

move back and forth (move in one direction and then into the opposite direction)

Verb group:

rock; sway (cause to move back and forth)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "sway"):

roll (move, rock, or sway from side to side)

nutate (rock, sway, or nod; usually involuntarily)

swag (sway heavily or unsteadily)

totter (move without being stable, as if threatening to fall)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s

Sentence examples:

The crowds sway in the streets

The streets sway with crowds

Derivation:

sway (pitching dangerously to one side)

sway (controlling influence)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Cause to move back and forth

Example:

the wind swayed the trees gently

Synonyms:

rock; sway

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Hypernyms (to "sway" is one way to...):

displace; move (cause to move or shift into a new position or place, both in a concrete and in an abstract sense)

Verb group:

rock; shake; sway (move back and forth or sideways)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something

Derivation:

sway (pitching dangerously to one side)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Move or walk in a swinging or swaying manner

Example:

He swung back

Synonyms:

sway; swing

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Hypernyms (to "sway" is one way to...):

move back and forth (move in one direction and then into the opposite direction)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "sway"):

waver; weave (sway from side to side)

lash (lash or flick about sharply)

oscillate; vibrate (move or swing from side to side regularly)

brachiate (swing from one hold to the next)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s PP

Derivation:

sway (pitching dangerously to one side)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Win approval or support for

Example:

His speech did not sway the voters

Synonyms:

carry; persuade; sway

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Hypernyms (to "sway" is one way to...):

act upon; influence; work (have and exert influence or effect)

Verb group:

carry (win in an election)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody

Derivation:

sway (controlling influence)

Credits

 Context examples: 

You think me unsteady: easily swayed by the whim of the moment, easily tempted, easily put aside.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

The sled swayed and trembled, half-started forward.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

Because of this he made heroic efforts to arise and at last he stood on his four legs, tottering and swaying back and forth.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

Is it a coincidence that it is found at the very point where the train pitches and sways as it comes round on the points?

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I could see the cool green tree-tops swaying together in the breeze, and I felt sure I should make the next promontory without fail.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

The excitement of the passengers grew greater; the crazy coach rocked on its great leather springs, and swayed like a boat tossed on a stormy sea.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

He reeled and swayed, doddering like a drunken man to keep from falling.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

For colorful, graceful sea fans swaying on coral reefs in the waters around Puerto Rico, copper is an emerging threat in an era of warming oceans.

(Sea fan corals face new threat in warming ocean: copper, National Science Foundation)

He wrung his hands in an agony of apprehension, and swayed backward and forward in his chair.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The whole consciousness of my life lorn, my love lost, my hope quenched, my faith death-struck, swayed full and mighty above me in one sullen mass.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)