English
sway
see also: Sway
Pronunciation Noun

sway

  1. The act of swaying; a swaying motion; a swing or sweep of a weapon.
  2. A rocking or swinging motion.
    The old song caused a little sway in everyone in the room.
  3. Influence, weight, or authority that inclines to one side
    I doubt I'll hold much sway with someone so powerful.
  4. Preponderance; turn or cast of balance.
  5. Rule; dominion; control; power.
    • 1610–1611, William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: Printed by Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358 ↗, [Act I, scene ii], [https://books.google.com/books?id=uNtBAQAAMAAJ&pg=PAProspero}}: […] Confederates / (ſo drie he was for Sway) with King of Naples / To giue him Annuall tribute, doe him homage / Subiect his Coronet, to his Crowne and bend / The Dukedom yet vnbow'd (alas poore Millaine) / To moſt ignoble ſtooping. page Prospero}}: […] Confederates / (ſo drie he was for Sway) with King of Naples / To giue him Annuall tribute, doe him homage / Subiect his Coronet, to his Crowne and bend / The Dukedom yet vnbow'd (alas poore Millaine) / To moſt ignoble ſtooping.]:
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  6. A switch or rod used by thatchers to bind their work.
  7. The maximum amplitude of a vehicle's lateral motion.
Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Verb

sway (sways, present participle swaying; past and past participle swayed)

  1. To move or swing from side to side; or backward and forward; to rock.
    sway to the music;  The trees swayed in the breeze.
    • 1907, Robert William Chambers, chapter V, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, OCLC 24962326 ↗:
      Breezes blowing from beds of iris quickened her breath with their perfume; she saw the tufted lilacs sway in the wind, and the streamers of mauve-tinted wistaria swinging, all a-glisten with golden bees; she saw a crimson cardinal winging through the foliage, and amorous tanagers flashing like scarlet flames athwart the pines.
  2. To move or wield with the hand; to swing; to wield.
    to sway the sceptre
    • As sparkles from the anvil rise, / When heavy hammers on the wedge are swayed.
  3. To influence or direct by power, authority, persuasion, or by moral force; to rule; to govern; to guide. Compare persuade.
    Do you think you can sway their decision?
    • This was the race / To sway the world, and land and sea subdue.
  4. To cause to incline or swing to one side, or backward and forward; to bias; to turn; to bend; warp.
    reeds swayed by the wind;  judgment swayed by passion
    • Let not temporal and little advantages sway you against a more durable interest.
  5. (nautical) To hoist (a mast or yard) into position.
    to sway up the yards
  6. To be drawn to one side by weight or influence; to lean; to incline.
    • 1623, Francis Bacon, A Discourse of a War with Spain
      The balance sways on our part.
  7. To have weight or influence.
    • The example of sundry churches […] doth sway much.
  8. To bear sway; to rule; to govern.
    • 1591, William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: Printed by Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358 ↗, [Act II, scene v]:
      Hadst thou swayed as kings should do.
Translations Translations Translations Translations
Sway
Proper noun
  1. A village in Hampshire, England.


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