SWAY | Meaning, Definition In Cambridge English Dictionary

Meaning of sway in English swayverb uk /sweɪ/ us /sweɪ/

sway verb (MOVE)

Add to word list Add to word list [ I ] to move slowly from side to side: The trees were swaying in the wind. The movement of the ship caused the mast to sway from side to side/back and forth. A drunk was standing in the middle of the street, swaying uncertainly and trying hard to stay upright. [ T ] to cause something to move or change: Recent developments have swayed the balance of power in the region. Shaking, swinging and vibrating

• brandish
• earth-shaking
• flap
• flappy
• flourish
• fluff
• fluff something up phrasal verb
• reverberation
• reverberative
• ripple
• rock-a-bye
• shake out phrasal verb
• shakily
• shiver
• thrash
• trembly
• tremulously
• vibrate
• vibration
• vibratory

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You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:

Changing General words for movement

sway verb (PERSUADE)

[ T ] to persuade someone to believe or do one thing rather than another: Her speech failed to sway her colleagues into supporting the plan. Urging & persuading

• ambulance chasing
• argumentation
• badger
• be/go on at someone idiom
• blag
• blagger
• get (something) through (to someone) phrasal verb
• get to phrasal verb
• go on phrasal verb
• goad someone into something/doing something
• hortatory
• hustle
• jockey
• persuade
• sales pitch
• talk your way into/out of something idiom
• twist someone around your little finger idiom
• twist someone's arm idiom
• uncoerced
• unconvinced

See more results » swaynoun [ U ]   formal uk /sweɪ/ us /sweɪ/ control or influence: In the 1980s, the organization came under the sway of (= became strongly influenced by) Christian fundamentalism. Her parents no longer seem to have much sway over her. The party could hold sway (= have an important influence) on some crucial votes. Power to control

• absolute authority
• abuse of power
• all's well that ends well idiom
• all-powerful
• ascendancy
• dominance
• domination
• dominion
• driven
• girl power
• oversight
• pay grade
• peer pressure
• power base
• power grab
• the upper hand
• ultra-powerful
• under the command of someone
• under the influence of someone/something
• yoke

See more results » (Definition of sway from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

sway | American Dictionary

swayverb us /sweɪ/

sway verb (MOVE)

Add to word list Add to word list [ I ] to move slowly from side to side: The trees sway in the wind.

sway verb (PERSUADE)

[ T ] to persuade someone to believe or to do something: Were you swayed by her arguments? swaynoun [ U ] us /sweɪ/

sway noun [U] (MOVEMENT)

a slow movement from side to side: The car showed lots of sway in crosswinds.

sway noun [U] (ABILITY TO PERSUADE)

the ability to persuade: As a young musician, he fell under the sway of Louis Armstrong. Large corporations hold sway with Congress. (Definition of sway from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

Examples of sway

sway As a taped musician crooned a tune about love and the beauties of nature, the puppet swayed and gesticulated with realistic grace. From the Cambridge English Corpus The investigators speculated that the latter's preferences were based on stable habits that were not as easily swayed by the framing manipulations (10). From the Cambridge English Corpus What is fitting, then, is what moves, convinces, or sways an audience. From the Cambridge English Corpus The computer interprets the sounds received from the three swaying microphones and responds by playing new notes over the three speakers. From the Cambridge English Corpus Women are often said to be more swayed by their emotions, although solid scholarly research is scarce on the point at best. From the Cambridge English Corpus The rejection of the regime and the dynamics of the opposition certainly played a part, but less so than the swaying power of the towns. From the Cambridge English Corpus The use of body contact such as patting, rocking, stroking, walking and swaying in tempo with their singing was demonstrated. From the Cambridge English Corpus After pinch-off of the main drop, the filament that remains sways, while elastically retracting back into the orifice, as shown in frames (d) and (e). From the Cambridge English Corpus The remaining five, however, appears to have been swayed by one reason above all - domestic politics. From the Cambridge English Corpus How could he really have been suddenly swayed at that meeting, there were so many different opinions expressed there. From the Cambridge English Corpus Interestingly, the judgements of one group of children were swayed during the task. From the Cambridge English Corpus After some discussion, the abscission lobby swayed the decision for the name of the compound in its favour; dormin lost the first round. From the Cambridge English Corpus Any time only one voice is heard the potential for swaying others based on bias rather than well-articulated and full argumentation is a disturbing possibility. From the Cambridge English Corpus If the incumbent wants to win extra voters in the current election, she has to win voters who were not swayed by the incumbent in the previous election. From the Cambridge English Corpus To ensure judicial impartiality the system needs to minimise the dangers of judges being swayed or bought by any of the parties involved in a legal dispute. From the Cambridge English Corpus See all examples of sway These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors. What is the pronunciation of sway?

Translations of sway

in Chinese (Traditional) 移動, 搖擺，擺動, 使移動，使改變… See more in Chinese (Simplified) 移动, 摇摆，摆动, 使移动，使改变… See more in Spanish mecerse, tambalearse, modificar… See more in Portuguese balançar, oscilar, influenciar… See more in Japanese in Turkish in French in Catalan in Dutch in Czech in Danish in Indonesian in Thai in Vietnamese in Polish in Swedish in Malay in German in Norwegian in Korean in Ukrainian in Italian ゆっくり前後（左右）に揺れる, 揺（ゆ）れる, 転向（てんこう）させる… See more sallanmak, etkilemek, ikna etmek… See more se balancer, osciller, influencer… See more balancejar-se… See more zwaaien, beïnvloeden, het slingeren… See more houpat se, ovlivnit, houpání… See more svaje, påvirke, gyngen… See more menggoyang, mempengaruhi, goyangan… See more แกว่งไปมา, ลังเลใจ, การแกว่งไกว… See more đu đưa. lắc lư, gây ảnh hưởng, sự lắc lư… See more kołysać się, przekonać, wpływać na… See more svänga, gunga, vaja… See more bergoyang, mempengaruhi, goyangan… See more schaukeln, beeinflussen, das Schaukeln… See more svaie, svinge, påvirke… See more 흔들리다… See more гойдати(ся), колихати(ся), мати вплив… See more ondeggiare, oscillare, influenzare… See more Need a translator?

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swathing swatted swatter swatting sway swaybacked swayed swaying Swazi {{#randomImageQuizHook.filename}} {{#randomImageQuizHook.isQuiz}} Test your vocabulary with our fun image quizzes Try a quiz now {{/randomImageQuizHook.isQuiz}} {{^randomImageQuizHook.isQuiz}} {{/randomImageQuizHook.isQuiz}} {{/randomImageQuizHook.filename}}

More meanings of sway

• hold sway idiom
• hold sway

See all meanings

• hold sway idiom

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• English   
  • Verb 
    • sway (MOVE)
    • sway (PERSUADE)
  Noun
• American   
  • Verb 
    • sway (MOVE)
    • sway (PERSUADE)
  • Noun 
    • sway (MOVEMENT)
    • sway (ABILITY TO PERSUADE)
• Examples

• Translations
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