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.
As bowls run true by being made
On purpose false, and to be swayed.
Hudibras.
Let not temporal and little advantages sway you against a more durable interest.
Tillotson. 4. (Naut.) To hoist; as, to sway up the yards.
Syn. — To bias; rule; govern; direct; influence; swing; move; wave; wield.
Sway
(Sway) v. i.
1. To be drawn to one side by weight or influence; to lean; to incline.
The balance sways on our part.
Bacon. 2. To move or swing from side to side; or backward and forward.
3. To have weight or influence.
The example of sundry churches . . . doth sway much.
Hooker. 4. To bear sway; to rule; to govern.
Hadst thou swayed as kings should do.
Shak. Sway
(Sway), n.
1. The act of swaying; a swaying motion; the swing or sweep of a weapon.
With huge two-handed sway brandished aloft.
Milton. 2. Influence, weight, or authority that inclines to one side; as, the sway of desires. A. Tucker.
3. Preponderance; turn or cast of balance.
Expert
When to advance, or stand, or turn the sway
Of battle.
Milton. 4. Rule; dominion; control. Cowper.
When vice prevails, and impious men bear sway,
The post of honor is a private station.
Addison. 5. A switch or rod used by thatchers to bind their work. [Prov. Eng.] Halliwell.
Syn. — Rule; dominion; power; empire; control; influence; direction; preponderance; ascendency.
Sway-backed
(Sway"-backed`) a. Having the back hollow or sagged, whether naturally or as the result
of injury or weakness; — said of horses and other animals.
Sway-bracing
(Sway"-bra`cing) n. (Engin.) The horizontal bracing of a bridge, which prevents its swaying.
Swayed
(Swayed) a. Bent down, and hollow in the back; sway-backed; — said of a horse. Shak.
Swayful
(Sway"ful) a. Able to sway. [R.] Rush.
Swaying
(Sway"ing), n. An injury caused by violent strains or by overloading; — said of the backs of
horses. Crabb.
