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Definitions for: Sway
[n] pitching dangerously to one side
[n] controlling influence
[v] cause somebody to adopt a certain position, belief, or course of action; twist somebody's arm; "You can't persuade me to buy this ugly vase!"; "The teenager's parents were not swayed by their daughter's arguments"
[v] move back and forth in an unstable manner; "the ship was rocking"; "the tall building swayed"; "the tree shook in the wind"
[v] cause to move back and forth; "rock the cradle"; "the wind swayed the trees gently"
[v] move or walk in a swinging or swaying manner; "He swung back"
[v] sway gently back and forth, as of flowers or tress in the wind
[v] move sideways or in an unsteady way, as of a ship or a vehicle out of control
[v] win approval or support for; "Carry all before one"
Webster (1913) Definition: 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, 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, 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.
Synonyms: careen, careen, carry, nod, persuade, persuade, rock, rock, shake, shift, swing, tilt, tilt, wobble
Antonyms: deter, dissuade
See Also: act upon, badger, blarney, brachiate, brainwash, bring around, bring round, cajole, cause, charm, chat up, coax, convert, convince, displace, drag, get, have, induce, influence, influence, inveigle, lash, lurch, make, move, move back and forth, nutate, oscillate, palaver, pitch, pitching, power, powerfulness, prevail, rope in, score, seduce, sell, stimulate, swag, sweet-talk, talk into, tempt, totter, vibrate, waver, weave, wheedle, win over, work
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