thwart

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“
This is the reason why the thwart which is farthest aft is made the seat of the best oarsman, and the others are required to make their motions keep time with his.

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Definitions (32)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (6)

  1. transitive verb To prevent the occurrence, realization, or attainment of: They thwarted her plans.
  2. transitive verb To oppose and defeat the efforts, plans, or ambitions of.
  3. noun Nautical A seat across a boat on which a rower may sit.
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Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (18)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (6)

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Examples (50)

  • Wiki settled himself on the amidships thwart, and picked up his oar. —  AHMM,Jan-Feb2006
  • CLOVE HITCHES are put around each thwart, and the line is rove through the bow ringbolt and brought to deck. —  The Shipping News
  • He finally managed to lunge and bang Woll's head against a thwart, and the man was discouraged enough to loosen his grip Doc whistled. —  133 - The Derelict of Skull Shoal
  • What gets me is that despite the Vermont laws that banks have chosen to thwart, they still come into state court to enforce their otherwise illegally high rates of interest on loans. —  RutlandHerald.com
  • "Best policy in war -- thwart the enemy's strategy, second best -- disrupt his alliances through diplomacy, third best -- attack his army in the field, worst strategy -- attack walled cities." —  Journerdism | Will Sullivan's Stompin' ground for journalists and nerds.
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Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

nine-pounder ·  knittin ·  companionway ·  affordeth ·  southside ·  carronade ·  gratefull ·  entrie ·  fadom ·  oarsman ·  waxeth ·  sub-ballast

Used in the same contextWord Family

thwart:   thwarting ·  thwarted
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 (6)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Middle English thwerten, from thwert, across, from Old Norse thvert, neuter of thverr, transverse; see terkw- in Indo-European roots.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (5)

  1. from Middle English thwert (as in over thwert, thwert over, a thwert, a thirt, athwart), from Icelandic thvert, across (um-thvert, across, athwart), = Swedish tvärt, rudely, = Danish tvert, adverb, across, athwart (cf. Middle Dutch dwers, dwersch, dwars, Dutch dwars = German zwerch, across); properly neuter accusative (with the neuter suffix -t usual in Scandinavian) of the adjective, Icelandic thverr, cross, transverse, = Swedish tvär- = Danish tver- = Anglo-Saxon thweorh (thweor-), transverse, perverse, = Middle Dutch *dwer, *dwar, dwers, dwersch, dwars, Dutch dwars, adjective, = Old High German dwerah, twerh, Middle High German twerch, dwerch, also querch, German zwerch in comp., also without the final guttural, Old High German twer, Middle High German twer, quer, German quer = Low German quer (later English queer), cross, transverse, = Gothic (Moesogothic) thwairhs, angry (not found in literally sense ‘cross’; cf. English cross, ‘transverse,’ also ‘angry’); perhaps connected with L. torquere, twist: see tort. Connection with Anglo-Saxon thurh, Gothic (Moesogothic) thairh, etc., through, is improbable: see thorough, through. Cf. athwart.
  2. from Middle English thwert, from thwert, adv.; or from Icelandic thvert, neuter adjective, after the adverb: see thwart, adv. The proper modern form of the adjective would be *thwar (from early Middle English thweor, from Anglo-Saxon thweor-, the reduced form in inflection of thweorh) or *thwarrow, from Anglo-Saxon thweorh.
  3. from thwart, v.
  4. from Middle English thwerten; from thwart, adv.
  5. Also dial. thought; prob. a variant of thoft (as, reversely, thoft is a variant of thought), a rower's seat, mixed with thwart, as if literally a ‘crosspiece’: see thoft, thoft-fel-low.
 

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/θwɔrt/
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