swaying

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sway

(swā)

v. swayed, sway·ing, sways

v.intr.

1. To swing back and forth or to and fro. See Synonyms at swing.

2. To incline or bend to one side; veer: She swayed and put out a hand to steady herself.

a. To incline toward change, as in opinion or feeling: He swayed toward trying out for the chorus.

b. To fluctuate, as in outlook.

v.tr.

1. To cause to swing back and forth or to and fro: The breeze swayed the wheat.

2. To cause to incline or bend: The wind swayed the trees toward the house.

3. To exert influence or control over: His speech swayed the voters.

4. Nautical To hoist (a mast or yard) into position.

5. Archaic

a. To rule or govern.

b. To wield, as a weapon or scepter.

1. The act of moving from side to side with a swinging motion.

2. Influence or control: The mayor has a lot of sway in our town.

[Middle English sweien, probably of Scandinavian origin.]

sway′er n.

sway′ing·ly adv.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Translations

swaying

n. vaivén, movimiento acompasado.

English-Spanish Medical Dictionary © Farlex 2012

References in classic literature ?

One of the attending harpooneers now advances with a long, keen weapon called a boarding-sword, and watching his chance he dexterously slices out a considerable hole in the lower part of the swaying mass.

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But the most curious thing about the swaying leaves was their color.

Then he felt himself gently lifted until he was swaying in the air, with the folds of the leaf hugging him on all sides.

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I crawled along the boat to them, intending to help Helmar by grasping the sailor's leg; but the sailor stumbled with the swaying of the boat, and the two fell upon the gunwale and rolled overboard together.

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At last she crawled over the swaying floor to her bed, and lay down upon it; and Toto followed and lay down beside her.

In spite of the swaying of the house and the wailing of the wind, Dorothy soon closed her eyes and fell fast asleep.

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In the damp chill air and crowded closeness of the swaying carriage, she for the first time vividly imagined what was in store for her there at the ball, in those brightly lighted rooms- with music, flowers, dances, the Emperor, and all the brilliant young people of Petersburg.

Pierre, swaying his stout body, advanced, making way through the crowd and nodding to right and left as casually and good-naturedly as if he were passing through a crowd at a fair.

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Finding that the night damp and chill caused her discomfort and even suffering, Korak constructed a tight little shelter high among the swaying branches of a giant tree.

She had been listening attentively to Meriem for an hour, propped against the bole of a tree while her lithe, young mistress stretched catlike and luxurious along a swaying branch before her.

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I remarked indeed a clumsy swaying of the machine, for which I was unable to account.

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They drove again through the outskirts of the village and along the same road, past the yard where the frozen linen had hung (which, however, was no longer to be seen), past the same barn, which was now snowed up almost to the roof and from which the snow was still endlessly pouring past the same dismally moaning, whistling, and swaying willows, and again entered into the sea of blustering snow raging from above and below.