sway

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Indeed, Alexander had hard work to maintain peace in his small kingdom; and although ably seconded by Mr. Day, more than once American disregard of his sway was almost too strong for him.

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Definitions (41)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (14)

  1. intransitive verb To swing back and forth or to and fro. See Synonyms at swing.
  2. intransitive verb To incline or bend to one side; veer: She swayed and put out a hand to steady herself.
  3. intransitive verb To incline toward change, as in opinion or feeling.

Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (18)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (3)

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Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

Allen's Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

Used in the same contextWord Family

sway:   swayed ·  swaying
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (3)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Middle English sweien, probably of Scandinavian origin.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (2)

  1. (a) from Middle English sweyen, sweʒen, sweiʒen.; prob. from Icelandic sveigja, bend aside, swing (a distaff); cf. sveggja, sway, swing, = Norwegian sveigja, bend (cf. sveg, switch), = Danish sveie, bend; causal of Icelandic *svīga, bend (later svigna, give way, svigi, a bending switch, svig, a bend), = Swedish dial. sviga (preterit sveg), bend. (b) Cf. Swedish svaja = Danish svaie, jerk, = Dutch zwaaijen, sway, swing, brandish, = Low German swajen, waver in the wind. Cf. swag, a collateral form of sway, and see swing. The Swedish Danish svag, weak, pliant, is apparently of Low German or G. origin, Middle High German swach, German schwach, weak: a word of a different root (see sick).
  2. from sway, v.
 

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/swei/
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