Definition of "sway"

sway

/sweɪ/

noun
countable and uncountable, plural sways
1. The act of swaying; a swaying motion; a swing or sweep of a weapon.
2. A rocking or swinging motion.
3. Influence, weight, or authority that inclines to one side
  Quotations
  Though both Mr. Knight and Mr. Hennessey view themselves as traders first, the “finfluencer” culture has flourished with the surge in online interest, and they have considerable sway.
  2021 April 28, Tara Siegel Bernard, “Trading Stock Tips on TikTok, Newbies Are Deeply Invested in Learning”, in The New York Times‎
4. Preponderance; turn or cast of balance.
5. Rule; dominion; control; power.
  Quotations
  Prospero: […] Confederates / (ſo drie he was for Sway) with King of Naples / To giue him Annuall tribute, doe him homage / Subiect his Coronet, to his Crowne and bend / The Dukedom yet vnbow'd (alas poore Millaine) / To moſt ignoble ſtooping.
  1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, [Act I, scene ii]
  Prayuth's return as prime minister takes Thailand back to 1980s. Military still holds sway in a democracy that has yet to mature.
  2019 June 8, Toru Takahashi, “Prayuth's return as prime minister takes Thailand back to 1980s”, in Nikkei Asian Review‎, Nikkei Inc, retrieved 2019-06-09
6. A switch or rod used by thatchers to bind their work.
7. The maximum amplitude of a vehicle's lateral motion.
verb
third-person singular simple present sways, present participle swaying, simple past and past participle swayed
1. To move or swing from side to side; or backward and forward; to rock.
  Quotations
  Breezes blowing from beds of iris quickened her breath with their perfume; she saw the tufted lilacs sway in the wind, and the streamers of mauve-tinted wistaria swinging, all a-glisten with golden bees; she saw a crimson cardinal winging through the foliage, and amorous tanagers flashing like scarlet flames athwart the pines.
  1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, “Afterglow”, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, page 168
2. To move or wield with the hand; to swing; to wield.
  Quotations
  As sparckles from the Anduile vse to fly, / When heauie hammers on the wedge are swaid
  1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book I, Canto XI”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, stanza 42
3. To influence or direct by power, authority, persuasion, or by moral force; to rule; to govern; to guide. Compare persuade.
  Quotations
  This was the race / To sway the world, and land and sea subdue.
  1697, Virgil, “(please specify the book number)”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […]
  After all this time […] the woman who endured all that by focusing on her hit list can be swayed from her course by the prospect of her family and her home.
  2017 July 23, Brandon Nowalk, “The great game begins with a bang on Game Of Thrones (newbies)”, in The Onion AV Club‎
4. To cause to incline or swing to one side, or backward and forward; to bias; to turn; to bend; warp.
  Quotations
  Let not temporal and little advantages sway you against a more durable interest.
  1664, John Tillotson, “Sermon I. The Wisdom of Being Religious. Job XXVIII. 28.”, in The Works of the Most Reverend Dr. John Tillotson, Late Lord Archbishop of Canterbury: , published 1720
5. (nautical) To hoist (a mast or yard) into position.
6. To be drawn to one side by weight or influence; to lean; to incline.
  Quotations
  euen in these Personall Respects, the Ballance swayes on our part: […]
  a. 1627 (date written), Francis [Bacon], “Considerations Touching a VVarre vvith Spaine. […]”, in William Rawley, editor, Certaine Miscellany VVorks of the Right Honourable Francis Lo. Verulam, Viscount S. Alban. […], London: […] I. Hauiland for Humphrey Robinson, […], published 1629, page 64
7. To have weight or influence.
  Quotations
  The example of sundry churches […] doth sway much.
  1594–1597, Richard Hooker, edited by J[ohn] S[penser], Of the Lawes of Ecclesiastical Politie, […], London: […] Will[iam] Stansby [for Matthew Lownes], published 1611, (please specify the page)
8. To bear sway; to rule; to govern.
  Quotations
  Hadst thou swayed as kings should do.
  1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies. […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, [Act II, scene v]

Definition of "sway"

sway

noun

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