Swerve

• POS: Noun, Verb (usu participle)

CIDE DICTIONARY

Swerve, v. i. [OE. swerven, AS. sweorfan to wipe off, to file, to polish; akin to OFries. swerva to creep, D. zwerven to swerve, to rope, OS. swerban to wipe off, MHG. swerben to be whirled, OHG. swerban to wipe off, Icel. sverfa to file, Goth. swaírban (in comp.) to wipe, and perhaps to E. swarm. Cf. Swarm.].

•  To stray; to wander; to rope.  [1913 Webster]

  "A maid thitherward did run,
  To catch her sparrow which from her did swerve."  [1913 Webster]
•  To go out of a straight line; to deflect.  Sir P. Sidney.  [1913 Webster]
•  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.  [1913 Webster]

  "I swerve not from thy commandments."  [1913 Webster]

  "They swerve from the strict letter of the law."  [1913 Webster]

  "Many who, through the contagion of evil example, swerve exceedingly from the rules of their holy religion."  [1913 Webster]
•  To bend; to incline.  Milton.  [1913 Webster]
•  To climb or move upward by winding or turning.  [1913 Webster]

  "The tree was high;
  Yet nimbly up from bough to bough I swerved."  [1913 Webster]

Swerve, v. t. 

 To turn aside.  Gauden.  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

Swerve, v. & n.
--v.intr. & tr. change or cause to change direction, esp. abruptly.
--n.
1 a swerving movement.
2 divergence from a course.

Derivative

swerveless adj. swerver n.

Etymology

ME, repr. OE sweorfan SCOUR(1)

THESAURUS

Swerve

L, aberrancy, aberration, about ship, about the bush, alter, ameliorate, angle, angle off, apex, avoid, back and fill, be changed, be converted into, be renewed, bear away, bear off, bear to starboard, beat, beat about, beat around, beg the question, bend, bent, bias, bifurcate, bifurcation, bight, blench, blink, bottom out, box off, branch, branch off, branching off, break, bring about, bring round, cant, cant round, career, cast, cast about, change, change course, change the bearing, change the heading, checker, chevron, chop, chop and change, circuitousness, coin, come about, come around, come round, corner, crank, cringe, crook, crotchet, curve, declination, deflect, deflection, degenerate, depart, depart from, departure, deteriorate, detour, deviance, deviancy, deviate, deviation, deviousness, digress, digression, dip, discursion, divagate, divagation, divaricate, divarication, diverge, divergence, diversify, diversion, dodge, dogleg, double, double a point, draw back, drift, drifting, duck, elbow, ell, equivocate, err, errantry, evade, excursion, excursus, exorbitation, fade, fall back, fence, fetch about, flinch, flop, fork, furcate, furcation, go about, gybe, hairpin, hang back, haul around, heave round, hedge, heel, hem and haw, hook, improve, indirection, inflection, jib, jibe, jibe all standing, knee, lurch, meliorate, miss stays, mitigate, modulate, mutate, nook, oblique, obliquity, parry, pererration, ply, point, pull away, pull back, pussyfoot, put about, put back, put off, quail, quoin, rambling, recoil, reel back, retreat, revive, round a point, sheer, sheer off, shift, shift off, shifting, shifting course, shifting path, shrink, shrink back, shy, shy away, shy off, sidestep, skew, slant, slew, slue, start aside, start back, step aside, stray, straying, sway, sweep, swerving, swing, swing round, swing the stern, swinging, tack, take a turn, throw about, trend, turn, turn aside, turn back, turn into, turn the corner, turning, twist, undergo a change, variation, vary, veer, vertex, wander, wandering, ward off, warp, waver, wear, wear ship, weasel, weasel out, wince, wind, worsen, yaw, zag, zig, zigzag

ROGET THESAURUS

Swerve

Unwillingness

VB be unwilling, nill, dislike, grudge, begrudge, not be able to find it in one's heart to, not have the stomach to, demur, stick at, scruple, stickle, hang fire, run rusty, recoil, shrink, swerve, hesitate, avoid, oppose, dissent, refuse.

Tergiversation

VB change one's mind, change one's intention, change one's purpose, change one's note, abjure, renounce, withdraw from, waver, vacillate, wheel round, turn round, veer round, turn a pirouette, go over from one side to another, pass from one side to another, change from one side to another, skip from one side to another, go to the rightabout, box the compass, shift one's ground, go upon another tack, apostatize, change sides, go over, rat, recant, retract, revoke, rescind, recall, forswear, unsay, come over, come round to an opinion, crawfish, crawl, draw in one's horns, eat one's words, eat the leek, swallow the leek, swerve, flinch, back out of, retrace one's steps, think better of it, come back return to one's first love, turn over a new leaf, trim, shuffle, play fast and loose, blow hot and cold, coquet, be on the fence, straddle, bold with the hare but run with the hounds, nager entre deux eaux, wait to see how the cat jumps, wait to see how the wind blows.

Variation

VB vary, deviate, diverge, alternate, swerve.

Change

VB change, alter, vary, wax and wane, modulate, diversify, qualify, tamper with, turn, shift, veer, tack, chop, shuffle, swerve, warp, deviate, turn aside, evert, intervert, pass to, take a turn, turn the corner, resume, work a change, modify, vamp, superinduce, transform, transfigure, transmute, transmogrify, transume, metamorphose, ring the changes, innovate, introduce new blood, shuffle the cards, give a turn to, give a color to, influence, turn the scale, shift the scene, turn over a new leaf, recast, reverse, disturb, convert into.

Deviation

VB alter one's course, deviate, depart from, turn, trend, bend, curve, swerve, heel, bear off, gybe, wear, intervert, deflect, divert, divert from its course, put on a new scent, shift, shunt, draw aside, crook, warp, stray, straggle, sidle, diverge, tralineate, digress, wander, wind, twist, meander, veer, tack, divagate, sidetrack, turn aside, turn a corner, turn away from, wheel, steer clear of, ramble, rove, drift, go astray, go adrift, yaw, dodge, step aside, ease off, make way for, shy, fly off at a tangent, glance off, wheel about, face about, turn to the right about, face to the right about, waddle, go out of one's way, lose one's way.