sway has definitions from the field of nautical
1
[ verb ] move back and forth in an unstable manner

Synonyms

shake rock

Examples

"the ship was rocking" "the tall building swayed" "the tree shook in the wind"

Used in print

(Octavia Waldo, A Cup of the Sun....)

Calloused fingers , caressed only by the smoothness of polished rosaries , had swayed excitedly beneath puckered chins where tiny black hairs sprouted , never to be tweezed away .

It swayed with the wicker swings and screeched with the rusted hinges of screen_doors .

2
[ verb ] move or walk in a swinging or swaying manner

Synonyms

swing

Examples

"He swung back"

Used in print

(Glenn Infield, "America's Secret Poison Gas Tragedy"...)

Unsinkable slowed and stopped , hundreds of brilliant white flares swayed eerily down from the black , the air_raid sirens ashore rose in a keening shriek , the anti-aircraft guns coughed and chattered - and above it all motors roared and the bombs came whispering and wailing and crashing down among the ships at anchor at Bari .

3
[ verb ] win approval or support for

Synonyms

persuade carry

Examples

"Carry all before one" "His speech did not sway the voters"

Used in print

(The Dallas Morning News,...)

Statements by other legislators that Dallas is paying for all its water_program by local bonds , and that less populous places would benefit most by the pending bill , did not sway Cotten 's attack .

Related terms

influence carry

4
[ verb ] move sideways or in an unsteady way, as of a ship or a vehicle out of control

Synonyms

wobble shift tilt careen

Used in print

(Edwin Booth, Outlaw Town....)

The building shook , setting the lantern to swaying , and the buckskin to pitching again .

Related terms

move totter rock wobbler

5
[ noun ] controlling influence

Used in print

(Philip Reaves, "Who Rules the Marriage Bed?"...)

Circumstances gave her almost undisputed sway over child rearing , money handling and home maintenance .

Related terms

power carry

6
[ verb ] cause to move back and forth

Synonyms

rock

Examples

"rock the cradle" "rock the baby" "the wind swayed the trees gently"

Related terms

move rock rocker rock

7
[ verb ] sway gently back and forth, as is in a nodding motion

Synonyms

nod

Examples

"the flowers were nodding in the breeze"

Related terms

move

8
[ noun ] (nautical) pitching dangerously to one side

Synonyms

careen tilt rock

Related terms

lurch swing rock careen rock

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