SG Heritage Dictionary

Word of the Day: Catachrestical

Sway [Noun] Webster's Dictionary 1828

1. The swing or sweep of a weapon.

2. To strike with huge two-handed sway

3. Any thing moving with bulk and power.

4. Are not you mov'd when all the sway of earth.

5. Shakes like a thing unfirm?

6. Preponderation; turn or cast of balance.

7. --Expert

8. When to advance, or stand, or turn the sway of battle.

9. Power exerted in governing; rule; dominion; control.

10. When vice prevails and impious men bear sway

11. The post of honor is a private station.

12. Influence; weight or authority that inclines to one side; as the sway of desires. All the world is subject to the sway of fashion.

Sway [Verb intransitive] Webster's Dictionary 1828

1. To be drawn to one side by weight; to lean. A wall sways to the west.

2. The balance sways on our part.

3. [This sense seems to indicate that this word and swag, are radically one.]

4. To have weight or influence.

5. The example of sundry churches--doth sway much.

6. To bear rule; to govern.

7. Had'st thou sway'd as kings should do--

8. In seamen's language, to hoist, particularly applied to the lower yards and to the topmast yards, etc.

Sway [Verb transitive] Webster's Dictionary 1828

1. To move or wave; to wield with the hand; as, to sway the scepter.

2. To bias; to cause to lean or incline to one side. Let not temporal advantages sway you from the line of duty. The king was swayed by his council from the course he intended to pursue.

3. As bowls run true by being made

4. On purpose false, and to be sway'd.

5. To rule; to govern; to influence or direct by power and authority, or by moral force.

6. This was the race

7. To sway the world, and land and sea subdue.

8. She could not sway her house.

9. Take heed lest passion sway

10. Thy judgment to do aught which else free will

11. Would not admit.

Sway [Noun] Webster's Dictionary 1913

1. The act of swaying; a swaying motion; the swing or sweep of a weapon.

2. Influence, weight, or authority that inclines to one side; as, the sway of desires.

3. Preponderance; turn or cast of balance.

4. Rule; dominion; control.

5. A switch or rod used by thatchers to bind their work.

Sway [Verb intransitive] Webster's Dictionary 1913

1. To move or wield with the hand; to swing; to wield; as, to sway the scepter.

2. To influence or direct by power and authority; by persuasion, or by moral force; to rule; to govern; to guide.

3. To cause to incline or swing to one side, or backward and forward; to bias; to turn; to bend; warp; as, reeds swayed by wind; judgment swayed by passion.

4. To hoist; as, to sway up the yards.

5. To be drawn to one side by weight or influence; to lean; to incline.

6. To move or swing from side to side; or backward and forward.

7. To have weight or influence.

8. To bear sway; to rule; to govern.

Sway-backed [Adjective] Webster's Dictionary 1913

Having the back hollow or sagged, whether naturally or as the result of injury or weakness; -- said of horses and other animals.

Sway-bracing [Noun] Webster's Dictionary 1913

The horizontal bracing of a bridge, which prevents its swaying.

Swayed [Participle passive] Webster's Dictionary 1828

Wielded; inclined to one side; ruled; governed; influenced; biased.

Swayed [Adjective] Webster's Dictionary 1913

Bent down, and hollow in the back; sway-backed; -- said of a horse.

Swayed [Imperfect tense and past participle] Webster's Dictionary 1913

of Sway

Swayful [Adjective] Webster's Dictionary 1913

Able to sway.

Swaying [Noun] Webster's Dictionary 1828

swaying of the back, among beasts, is a kind of lumbago, caused by a fall or by being overloaded.

Swaying [Participle present tense] Webster's Dictionary 1828

Wielding; causing to lean; biasing; ruling.

Swaying [Noun] Webster's Dictionary 1913

An injury caused by violent strains or by overloading; -- said of the backs of horses.

Swaying [Present participle and verbal noun] Webster's Dictionary 1913

of Sway

King James Bible KJV Bible

Berean Standard Bible BSB Bible

1 KJV and 11 BSB verses contain “sway”

Judges 9:9

But the olive tree said unto them, Should I leave my fatness, wherewith by me they honour God and man, and go to be promoted over the trees?

But the olive tree replied, ‘Should I stop giving my oil that honors both God and man, to hold sway over the trees?’

Judges 9:11

But the fig tree said unto them, Should I forsake my sweetness, and my good fruit, and go to be promoted over the trees?

But the fig tree replied, ‘Should I stop giving my sweetness and my good fruit, to hold sway over the trees?’

Judges 9:13

And the vine said unto them, Should I leave my wine, which cheereth God and man, and go to be promoted over the trees?

But the grapevine replied, ‘Should I stop giving my wine that cheers both God and man, to hold sway over the trees?’

2 Samuel 19:14

And he bowed the heart of all the men of Judah, even as the heart of one man; so that they sent this word unto the king, Return thou, and all thy servants.

So he swayed the hearts of all the men of Judah as though they were one man, and they sent word to the king: “Return, you and all your servants.”

Job 28:4

The flood breaketh out from the inhabitant; even the waters forgotten of the foot: they are dried up, they are gone away from men.

Far from human habitation he cuts a shaft in places forgotten by the foot of man. Far from men he dangles and sways.

Job 40:17

He moveth his tail like a cedar: the sinews of his stones are wrapped together.

His tail sways like a cedar; the sinews of his thighs are tightly knit.

Psalms 72:16

There shall be an handful of corn in the earth upon the top of the mountains; the fruit thereof shall shake like Lebanon: and they of the city shall flourish like grass of the earth.

May there be an abundance of grain in the land; may it sway atop the hills. May its fruit trees flourish like the forests of Lebanon, and its people like the grass of the field.

Isaiah 24:20

The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage; and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it; and it shall fall, and not rise again.

The earth staggers like a drunkard and sways like a shack. Earth’s rebellion weighs it down, and it falls, never to rise again.

Jeremiah 4:24

I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and all the hills moved lightly.

I looked at the mountains, and behold, they were quaking; all the hills were swaying.

Matthew 11:7

And as they departed, Jesus began to say unto the multitudes concerning John, What went ye out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken with the wind?

As John’s disciples were leaving, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed swaying in the wind?

Luke 7:24

And when the messengers of John were departed, he began to speak unto the people concerning John, What went ye out into the wilderness for to see? A reed shaken with the wind?

After John’s messengers had left, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed swaying in the wind?

Sirach 1:22

A furious man cannot be justified; for the sway of his fury shall be his destruction.