Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • transitive verb To prevent the occurrence, realization, or attainment of.
  • transitive verb To oppose and defeat the efforts, plans, or ambitions of (someone).
  • noun A seat across a boat on which a rower may sit.
  • adjective Extending, lying, or passing across; transverse.
  • adjective Eager to oppose, especially wrongly; perverse.
  • adverb & preposition Athwart; across.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun See the extract.
  • noun A seat across a boat on which the oarsman sits.
  • Lying or extending across or crosswise; cross; transverse.
  • Antithetical.
  • Perverse; contrary; cross-grained.
  • noun Opposition; defiance.
  • To pass over or across; cross.
  • To put crosswise, or one across another.
  • To put in the way; oppose.
  • To cross, as a purpose; contravene; frustrate; baffle.
  • Synonyms Foil, Baffle, etc. See frustrate.
  • To go crosswise or obliquely.
  • To be in opposition; be contrary or perverse; hence, to quarrel; contend.
  • From side to side; across; crosswise; transversely; athwart.
  • Across; athwart.
  • Opposite to; over against.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adverb obsolete Thwartly; obliquely; transversely; athwart.
  • transitive verb obsolete To move across or counter to; to cross.
  • transitive verb To cross, as a purpose; to oppose; to run counter to; to contravene; hence, to frustrate or defeat.
  • adjective Situated or placed across something else; transverse; oblique.
  • adjective obsolete Fig.: Perverse; crossgrained.
  • noun (Naut.) A seat in an open boat reaching from one side to the other, or athwart the boat.
  • preposition Across; athwart.
  • preposition See Athwart ships, under Athwart.
  • intransitive verb rare To move or go in an oblique or crosswise manner.
  • intransitive verb rare Hence, to be in opposition; to clash.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb transitive to prevent; to halt; to cause to fail; to foil; to frustrate.
  • noun nautical A brace, perpendicular to the keel, that helps maintain the beam (breadth) of a marine vessel against external water pressure and that may serve to support the rail.
  • noun nautical A seat across a boat on which a rower may sit.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb hinder or prevent (the efforts, plans, or desires) of
  • noun a crosspiece spreading the gunnels of a boat; used as a seat in a rowboat

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

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

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Old Norse þvert ‘across’, originally neut. of thverr (transverse, across), cognates include Old English þweorh (transverse, perverse, angry, cross), Danish tvær, Gothic 𐌸𐍅𐌰𐌹𐍂𐍃 (þwaírs, "angry"), Dutch dwars (cross-grained, contrary), German quer, from Proto-Germanic *thwerkhaz, altered by influence of Proto-Germanic *thwer- (to turn) from Proto-Germanic *therkh-, from Proto-Indo-European *twork-/*twerk- (twist).

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word thwart.

Examples

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • Gosh, this word is fun to say. Thwart. Thwart.

    February 16, 2007

  • "...the boats pulled fast across the water, with never a sound but the creak of thwarts and thole-pins and the gurgle of oars."

    --Patrick O'Brian, The Letter of Marque, 104

    February 29, 2008

  • Fuck, how do you get your tongue to pronounce this w after the θ in /θwɔrt/? ^^

    Like this I guess...

    September 27, 2008

  • 1. Stick the tip of your tongue between your teeth as you exhale.

    2. Still exhaling, round your lips and vibrate your vocal cords.

    September 27, 2008

  • Is it me, or does the audio provided by telofy sound a little bit like Truman Capote? Or am I just missing him...?

    September 27, 2008

  • Funny, I have no idea what my problem had been. Mouthfeel indeed. :-)

    January 15, 2010