swerve
Meaning
-
- To stray; to wander; to rove.
- To go out of a straight line; to deflect.
- 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.
- To bend; to incline; to give way.
- To climb or move upward by winding or turning.
- To turn aside or deviate to avoid impact.
- Of a projectile, to travel in a curved line
- To drive in the trajectory of another vehicle to stop it, to cut off.
- (slang) To go out of one's way to avoid; to snub.
Synonyms
be slippery
swing about
turn off
be bent
be crooked
be strained
change course
deviate from
lose one’s footing
make a detour
turn aside
veer off
change direction
be distorted
be perverted
be gross-grained
deflectivity
be deflected
make a turn
swish back and forth
turn suddenly
wheel back
change in direction
change state
swing around
move aside
Frequency
Pronounced as (IPA)
/swɜːv/
Etymology
In summary
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”).
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Notes