SWERVED

Verb

swerved

simple past tense and past participle of swerve

Source: Wiktionary


SWERVE

Swerve, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Swerved; p. pr. & vb. n. Swerving.] Etym: [OE. swerven, AS. sweorfan to wipe off, to file, to polish; akin to OFries. swerva to creep, D. zwerven to swerve, to rope, OS. swerban to wipe off, MHG. swerben to be whirled, OHG. swerban to wipe off, Icel. sverfa to file, Goth. swaírban (in comp.) to wipe, and perhaps to E. swarm. Cf. Swarm.]

1. To stray; to wander; to rope. [Obs.] A maid thitherward did run, To catch her sparrow which from her did swerve. Sir P. Sidney.

2. To go out of a straight line; to deflect. "The point [of the sword] swerved." Sir P. Sidney.

3. 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. I swerve not from thy commandments. Bk. of Com. Prayer. They swerve from the strict letter of the law. Clarendon. Many who, through the contagion of evil example, swerve exceedingly from the rules of their holy religion. Atterbury.

4. To bend; to incline. "The battle swerved." Milton.

5. To climb or move upward by winding or turning. The tree was high; Yet nimbly up from bough to bough I swerved. Dryden.

Swerve, v. t.

Definition: To turn aside. Gauden.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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Word of the Day

20 December 2024

FIDDLE

(verb) commit fraud and steal from one’s employer; “We found out that she had been fiddling for years”


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Coffee Trivia

In 1511, leaders in Mecca believed coffee stimulated radical thinking and outlawed the drink. In 1524, the leaders overturned that order, and people could drink coffee again.

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