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sway - 7 dictionary results
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sway

  [swey]
Use sway in a Sentence
–verb (used without object)
1. to move or swing to and fro, as something fixed at one end or resting on a support.
2. to move or incline to one side or in a particular direction.
3. to incline in opinion, sympathy, tendency, etc.: She swayed toward conservatism.
4. to fluctuate or vacillate, as in opinion: His ideas swayed this way and that.
5. to wield power; exercise rule.
–verb (used with object)
6. to cause to move to and fro or to incline from side to side.
7. to cause to move to one side or in a particular direction.
8. Nautical. to hoist or raise (a yard, topmast, or the like) (usually fol. by up).
9. to cause to fluctuate or vacillate.
10. to cause (the mind, emotions, etc., or a person) to incline or turn in a specified way; influence.
11. to cause to swerve, as from a purpose or a course of action: He swayed them from their plan.
12. to dominate; direct.
13. to wield, as a weapon or scepter.
14. to rule; govern.
–noun
15. the act of swaying; swaying movement.
16. rule; dominion: He held all Asia in his sway.
17. dominating power or influence: Many voters were under his sway.
Origin:
1300–50; (v.) ME sweyen < ON sveigja to bend, sway (transit.); (n.) ME, deriv. of the v.

Related forms:
sway⋅a⋅ble, adjective
swayer, noun
sway⋅ing⋅ly, adverb

Synonyms:
1. wave. See swing 1 . 3. lean, bend, tend.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To sway
sway   (swā)   
v.   swayed, sway·ing, sways

v.   intr.
  1. To swing back and forth or to and fro. See Synonyms at swing.
  2. To incline or bend to one side; veer: She swayed and put out a hand to steady herself.
    1. To incline toward change, as in opinion or feeling.
    2. To fluctuate, as in outlook.
v.   tr.
  1. To cause to swing back and forth or to and fro.
  2. To cause to incline or bend to one side.
  3. Nautical To hoist (a mast or yard) into position.
    1. To divert; deflect.
    2. To exert influence on or control over: His speech swayed the voters.
    3. To rule or govern.
    4. To wield, as a weapon or scepter.
  5. Archaic
    1. To rule or govern.
    2. To wield, as a weapon or scepter.
n.  
  1. The act of moving from side to side with a swinging motion.
  2. Power; influence.
  3. Dominion or control.

[Middle English sweien, probably of Scandinavian origin.]
sway'er n., sway'ing·ly adv.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Sway

Sway\, v. 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, v. 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. --Shak.

She could not sway her house. --Shak.

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

Sway\, v. 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. --Shak.

Sway

Sway\, n. 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's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : sway
Spanish: balancear(se), mecer(se),
German: schaukeln,
Japanese: 揺れる
More Translations »

sway 
c.1300, "to go, glide, move," probably from O.N. sveigja "to bend, swing, give way," from P.Gmc. *swaigijanan and related to swag (v.) and swing. The sense of "swing, wave, waver" is first recorded c.1500. The noun meaning "controlling influence" (to be under the sway of) is 1510, from a transitive sense of the verb in Du. and other languages. The verb in this sense is recorded in Eng. from 1593.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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sway

see hold sway.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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 Official Site. Learn more about the Samsung Sway. Exclusively at VzW!
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