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thwart

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thwart

  [thwawrt] ,
Use thwart in a Sentence
–verb (used with object)
1. to oppose successfully; prevent from accomplishing a purpose.
2. to frustrate or baffle (a plan, purpose, etc.).
3. Archaic.
a. to cross.
b. to extend across.
–noun
4. a seat across a boat, esp. one used by a rower.
5. a transverse member spreading the gunwales of a canoe or the like.
–adjective
6. passing or lying crosswise or across; cross; transverse.
7. perverse; obstinate.
8. adverse; unfavorable.
–preposition, adverb
9. across; athwart.
Origin:
1200–50; ME thwert (adv.) < ON thvert across, neut. of thverr transverse; c. OE thweorh crooked, cross, Goth thwairhs cross, angry

Related forms:
thwart⋅ed⋅ly, adverb
thwarter, noun

Synonyms:
1. hinder, obstruct. Thwart, frustrate, baffle imply preventing one, more or less completely, from accomplishing a purpose. Thwart and frustrate apply to purposes, actions, plans, etc., baffle, to the psychological state of the person thwarted. Thwart suggests stopping one by opposing, blocking, or in some way running counter to one's efforts. Frustrate implies rendering all attempts or efforts useless or ineffectual, so that nothing ever comes of them. Baffle suggests causing defeat by confusing, puzzling, or perplexing, so that a situation seems too hard a problem to understand or solve.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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thwart   (thwôrt)   
tr.v.   thwart·ed, thwart·ing, thwarts

  1. To prevent the occurrence, realization, or attainment of: They thwarted her plans.

  2. To oppose and defeat the efforts, plans, or ambitions of.

n.   Nautical
A seat across a boat on which a rower may sit.
adj.  

  1. Extending, lying, or passing across; transverse.

  2. Eager to oppose, especially wrongly; perverse.

adv.   & prep. Archaic
Athwart; across.

[Middle English thwerten, from thwert, across, from Old Norse thvert, neuter of thverr, transverse; see terkw- in Indo-European roots.]
thwart'er n., thwart'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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