swerve
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English[edit]
Alternative forms[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From Middle English swerven, swarven, from Old English sweorfan (“to file; rub; polish; scour; turn aside”), from Proto-Germanic *swerbaną (“to rub off; wipe; mop”), from Proto-Indo-European *swerbʰ- (“to turn; wipe; sweep”). Cognate with West Frisian swerve (“to wander; roam; swerve”), Dutch zwerven (“to wander; stray; roam”), Low German swarven (“to swerve; wander; riot”), Swedish dialectal svärva (“to wipe”), Icelandic sverfa (“to file”).
Pronunciation[edit]
Verb[edit]
swerve (third-person singular simple present swerves, present participle swerving, simple past and past participle swerved)
- (archaic) To stray; to wander; to rove.
- 1593, Philip Sidney, “The Fifth Booke”, in H[ugh] S[anford], editor, The Covntesse of Pembrokes Arcadia […] [The New Arcadia], London: […] William Ponsonbie, OCLC 1049103286; republished in Albert Feuillerat, editor, The Last Part of The Countesse of Pembrokes Arcadia […] (Cambridge English Classics: The Complete Works of Sir Philip Sidney; II), Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: University Press, 1922, OCLC 496012517, page 216:
- A maid thitherward did run, / To catch her sparrow which from her did swerve.
- To go out of a straight line; to deflect.
- 1590, Philippe Sidnei [i.e., Philip Sidney], “[The Thirde Booke] Chapter 24”, in Fulke Greville, Matthew Gwinne, and John Florio, editors, The Covntesse of Pembrokes Arcadia [The New Arcadia], London: […] William Ponsonbie, OCLC 801077108; republished in Albert Feuillerat, editor, The Countesse of Pembrokes Arcadia (Cambridge English Classics: The Complete Works of Sir Philip Sidney; I), Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: University Press, 1912, OCLC 318419127, page 493:
- with the slipping of the pommel , the point swerved
- To wander from any line prescribed, or from a rule or duty; to depart from what is established by law, duty, custom, or the like; to deviate.
- 1785, The Book of Common Prayer According to the Use in King's Chapel
- I swerve not from thy commandments.
- 1702–1704, Edward [Hyde, 1st] Earl of Clarendon, “(please specify |book=I to XVI)”, in The History of the Rebellion and Civil Wars in England, Begun in the Year 1641. […], Oxford, Oxfordshire: Printed at the Theater, published 1707, OCLC 937919305:
- They swerve from the strict letter of the law.
- October 28, 1705, Francis Atterbury, a sermon
- many who, through the contagion of evil example, swerve exceedingly from the rules of their holy Faith
- 1785, The Book of Common Prayer According to the Use in King's Chapel
- To bend; to incline.
- 1667, John Milton, “Book 6”, in Paradise Lost. A Poem Written in Ten Books, London: […] [Samuel Simmons], […], OCLC 228722708; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, OCLC 230729554:
- The battle swerved.
- To climb or move upward by winding or turning.
- c. 1692, John Dryden, Amaryllis
- The tree was high; / Yet nimbly up from bough to bough I swerved.
- c. 1692, John Dryden, Amaryllis
- To turn aside or deviate to avoid impact.
- Of a projectile, to travel in a curved line
- 2011 January 8, Chris Bevan, “Arsenal 1 - 1 Leeds”, in BBC[1]:
- Snodgrass also saw a free-kick swerve just wide before Arsenal, with Walcott and Fabregas by now off the bench, turned their vastly superior possession into chances in the closing moments
- To drive in the trajectory of another vehicle to stop it, to cut off.
- 1869, Leo Tolstoy, War & Peace, Part 10, Chapter 39:
- The French invaders, like an infuriated animal that has in its onslaught received a mortal wound, felt that they were perishing, but could not stop, any more than the Russian army, weaker by one half, could help swerving.
- 1869, Leo Tolstoy, War & Peace, Part 10, Chapter 39:
Related terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
to go out of a straight line
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to wander from a line, rule or duty
to bend
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to climb or move upward
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to turn aside or deviate to avoid impact
- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked
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Noun[edit]
swerve (plural swerves)
- A sudden movement out of a straight line, for example to avoid a collision.
- 1990, American Motorcyclist (volume 44, number 7, page 11)
- The distinction between using a skill subconsciously and employing it in the full knowledge of what was happening made a dramatic difference. I could execute a swerve to avoid an obstacle in a fraction of the time it previously took.
- 1990, American Motorcyclist (volume 44, number 7, page 11)
- A deviation from duty or custom.
- 1874, William Edwin Boardman, Faith-work, Or the Labours of Dr. Cullis, in Boston (page 56)
- […] indubitable evidence of a swerve from the principle of the work.
- 1874, William Edwin Boardman, Faith-work, Or the Labours of Dr. Cullis, in Boston (page 56)
Derived terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
sudden movement out of a straight line
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Anagrams[edit]
Middle English[edit]
Verb[edit]
swerve
- Alternative form of swerven
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