▪ I. swerve, n.
(swɜːv)
Also 8 swarve.
[f. next.]
An act of swerving, turning aside, or deviating from a course; in Cricket and Baseball: see swerve v. 7 b. Also attrib., as swerve-bowler, swerve-bowling.
| 1741 Compl. Fam.-Piece ii. i. 310 If there be no such Swarve,..then that Dog that is nearest the Deer when he swarves..wins the Match. 1840 E. E. Napier Scenes & Sports For. Lands I. i. 13, I missed him with my first barrel, but from the swerve he gave after my second attempt..I was aware he was hit. 1857 Dickens Dorrit ii. xix, Every swerve of the carriage and every cry of the postilion. 1865 A. L. Gordon Poems, Vis. Smoke iv, On! on! to the cannon's mouth they stride, With never a swerve nor a shy. 1900 A. W. Pullin Talks with Old Eng. Cricketers 125 One hears occasionally of swerving balls, but the swerve depends very much on the air. 1901 Westm. Gaz. 16 Aug. 8/2 Hirst..has a peculiar ‘knack’..of making the ball swerve in the air... Yesterday the ‘swerve’ showed itself. 1930 C. V. Grimmett Getting Wickets iii. 67 In swerve bowling, like other branches of the art, it must be the bowler's object so to regulate his swerve that the ball will hit the wicket. 1944 E. Blunden Cricket Country iii. 37 A large wrathful swerve-bowler using the wind..to the immediate..destruction of all. |
| fig. 1871 D. Greenwell Colloquia Crucis iii. 63 A warp and swerve in nature that seems to demand a mighty work of restoration. |
▪ II. swerve, v.
(swɜːv)
Forms: α. 3–4 pa. tense swarf, 4– swerve, (6 Sc. suirve, suerwe, pa. pple. swarven); β. 5– (now dial.) swarve (6 swarfe, Sc. suarve, 7 swarv).
[Com. Teut. (orig.) str. vb. with a variety of meanings: ME. swerve, pa. tense swarf to turn aside, repr. OE. sweorfan, pa. tense swearf, pa. pple. sworfen to file, scour, = OFris. swerva to creep, (WFris. swerv(j)e, pa. tense swurf, pa. pple. swurven to wander, hurry away, NFris. swarwi), OS. *swerƀan to wipe, only in pa. tense swarf, MDu. swerven (Du. zwerven) to rove, stray, LG. swarven to swerve, stray, riot, OHG. swerban (MHG. swerben) to wipe, to move quickly backwards and forwards, whirl or twirl round (mod.G. has a derivative form schwirbeln), ON. sverfa, pa. tense svarf, svurfum, pa. pple. sorfinn to file, (Norw. swerva to whirl, swirl), Goth. -swa{iacu}rban in afswa{iacu}rban, biswa{iacu}rban to wipe (away).
The original sense of the radical may be that of agitated, irregular, or deflected movement; cf. swarm n., etym. The sense of filing did not survive the OE. period, but is preserved in the derivative n. swarf n.2 The sudden emergence of the sense of ‘turn aside’ in ME. is remarkable; the presumption is that it existed in OE., since there is no known foreign source to account for it.]
† 1. intr. To depart; to make off. Obs. rare.
| a 1225 Leg. Kath. 2181 Heo swarf to Criste upon þe þreo & twentuðe dei of Nouembres moneð. c 1400 Destr. Troy 2358, I..swaruyt out swiftly, might no swayne folo. |
2. a. To turn aside, deviate in movement from the straight or direct course.
In early use, of a glancing blow or weapon.
| α c 1330 Arth. & Merl. 9359 (Kölbing) Þe dint swarf & flei for bi. c 1380 Sir Ferumb. 743 Þat swerd on ys syde swarf. 1390 Gower Conf. III. 7 As a drunke man I swerve. Ibid. III. 92 Riht so was This erthe set..That it may swerve to no side. 1541 Copland Guydon's Quest. Cyrurg. L iij, Ye ought to haue a quyll w{supt} a hole in the syde wher with the other syde of the lyppe shal be steyed, bycause it shall nat swerue. 1642 Fuller Holy & Prof. St. v. xix. 436 As if Nature on set purpose mistook her mark, and made her hand to swerve. 1784 Cowper Task i. 161 His lab'ring team, that swerv'd not from the track. 1816 Scott Old Mort. iii, The animal swerved at the moment his master fired. 1854 R. S. Surtees Handley Cr. xxxii, Nothing looks so pusillanimous as to see a chap ride bang at a fence as though he would eat it, and then swerve off for a gate or a gap. 1864 G. A. Lawrence Maurice Dering II. 19 The bullet did not swerve from its mark one hair's-breadth. 1901 [see swerve n.]. |
| β c 1400 Destr. Troy 5785 Swordis, with swapping, swaruyt on helmes. c 1450 Merlin xx. 341 Yef the swerde hadde not swarued, maymed hadde he ben for euer. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 166 Yf it [sc. the ball] be cast vp crokedly, it swarueth & falleth on that one syde or on y{supt} other. 1553 Brende Q. Curtius B v, With hys sword drawen [he] ran at hys sonne, who by swarving with hys body, avoyded the stroke. 1557 Edgeworth Serm. Repert. A iij, In Croked thinges the midle swarueth from the extremities. 1590 Spenser F.Q. i. x. 14 Vp to heauen..Her stedfast eyes were bent, ne swarued other way. 1598 R. Barckley Felic. Man 173 The beasts that drew Darius wagon hauing no man to gouerne them, were swarued out of the high way. 1607 Markham Caval. ii. xxiii. (1617) 248 The very center of the ring, from which your eye in running must not swarue. 1625 N. Carpenter Geogr. Delin. i. x. (1635) 220 The Sunne neuer swaruing from his Eclipticke, hath his course equally diuided by the Horizon. 1741 [see swerve n.]. 1818 Scott Br. Lamm. xxiv, The horse swarved round. |
b. To turn in a specified direction; to be deflected (statically).
| c 1600 Shakes. Sonn. lxxxvii, And so my pattent back againe is sweruing. 1607 Markham Caval. vii. xlii. 60 Waights of such sufficient poise as may either drawe the Crest vp straight, or els mak it leane to that side from whence it swerueth. 1820 L. Hunt Indicator No. 40 (1822) I. 316 While the leaves issue from it, and swerve upwards with their elegant points. 1863 Cowden Clarke Shaks. Char. vi. 157 In those secluded villages where the high post and railroads swerve in the distance. 1883 Mag. Art Aug. 398/1 The road swerves to the left. |
† c. trans. To deviate from (a path). Obs. rare.
| a 1513 Fabyan Chron. vii. 627 When the duke had wyttynge of the Kynges great power, he swaruyd the way from the Kynges hoost and toke the way towarde London. 1587 Turberv. Trag. Tales (1837) 140 It [sc. sin] makes him passe beyond the boundes of kynde, And swerve the trade where truth and vertues lay. |
3. a. intr. To turn away or be deflected from a (right) course of action, a line of conduct, an opinion, etc.; † to waver, vacillate.
| a 1400 ? Chaucer Compl. to Mortal Foe 29, I preye, as he that wol nat swerve, That I may fare the better for my trouthe. a 1547 Surrey æneid ii. 714 Neoptolem is swarved out of kinde. 1557 Tottel's Misc. (Arb.) 176 Since so vnconstantly thou wilt Not loue, but still be swaruing. 1599 Shakes. Hen. V, ii. ii. 133 Are they..Constant in spirit, not sweruing with the blood? 1667 Milton P.L. ix. 359 Firm we subsist, yet possible to swerve. 1810 Wordsw. Sonn., ‘Avaunt all specious pliancy of mind’ 7 Honour that knows the path and will not swerve. 1847 Emerson Repr. Men, Swedenborg Wks. (Bohn) I. 334 With a tenacity that never swerved..he adheres to this brave choice. 1873 Dixon Two Queens xii. ii. II. 293 She argued with him, but he would not swerve a jot. 1884 L. J. Jennings Croker Papers I. x. 278 Mr. Croker..never swerved in his support of every well-directed measure for Catholic relief. |
b. (a) Const. from.
| α 1390 Gower Conf. I. 240 So that I mihte..Fro suche that mi ladi serve Hire herte make forto swerve. Ibid. II. 42 And yit therfro mai noman swerve, That he ne mot his lawe obeie. 1535 Joye Apol. Tindale (Arb.) 30 He wold..neuer haue had so farre swaruen from his principal, as [etc.]. [Cf. boden and stoken in the preceding context.] 1554 Act 1 & 2 Phil. & Mary c. 8 §1 As well the Spiritualtie as the Temporaltie..have swerved from the Obedience of the See Apostolike. 1606 Shakes. Tr. & Cr. iii. ii. 191 If I be false, or swerue a haire from truth. 1626 Middleton Women Beware Women v. i. 163 This swerves a little from the argument. 1664 H. More Myst. Iniq. ii. i. i. §3. 206 The..converting of Christendom to that ancient and Apostolick purity..from which they have so long time swerved. 1756 C. Lucas Ess. Waters I. Pref., It will to some appear most..impudent to attempt to swerve from the spelling received and established. 1822 Lamb Elia Ser. ii. Conf. Drunkard, What hinders in your instance that you do not return to those habits from which you would induce others never to swerve? 1868 E. Edwards Ralegh I. xxvii. 683 From the resolute vindication of the Guiana enterprise itself Sir Walter never really swerved. 1874 Green Short Hist. ix. §10. 710 The wealth around him never made Walpole swerve from a rigid economy. |
| β a 1513 Fabyan Chron. vii. 510 If he or y⊇ kynge of Nauerne wolde swarue from any poynt or artycle of the sayd former agrement. 1521 in Bradshaw's St. Werburge (1887) 202 Thys soule..from vertue neuer swarued [rime preserued]. 1535 Coverdale Ps. cxviii[i]. 110 Yet swarue not I from thy commaundementes. 1582 Stanyhurst æneis To Rdr. (Arb.) 11 As what shal seeme too swarue from theyre maximes, they wyl not stick too skore vp for errours. 1611 Bible 1 Tim. i. 6 From which [sc. charity] some hauing swarued, haue turned aside vnto vaine iangling. a 1632 T. Taylor God's Judgem. i. ii. vii. (1642) 177 Astyages..so much swarved from humanity, that he gave in strict charge that..his own daughter's sonne..should be made away. 1642 Chas. I Answ. Declar. Lds. & Comm. 19 May 6 We have not at all swarved or departed from Our Resolution. 1684 Bunyan Pilgr. ii. 20 Let him never suffer me To swarve or turn aside From his free grace. |
† (b) To forsake, desert, be disloyal to (a person); also, to differ from, be discrepant from.
| a 1400 ? Chaucer Compl. to Lode-sterre 40 My herte and body, shal I never swerve From you. ? 1566 R. W[itc] To the vnconstant E.T. xxvi, Frequent not Womens company but see thou from them swarue. 1579 Lyly Euphues (Arb.) 191 That thy nature should not swerue from thy name. 1584 B. R. tr. Herodotus i. 55 b, From whom the Caryans themselues doe greatly dissent and swarue in opinion. 1590 Spenser F.Q. ii. x. 55 The Captaines on her side, Corrupted by Paulinus, from her sweru'd. 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts Ep. Ded. A vj, In the names of the Beasts and the Physicke I have not swarued from him at all. a 1656 Ussher Power Princes i. (1683) 3 Neither doth St. Peter any whit swerve from his beloved brother Paul. |
c. Const. to, towards, † occas. on.
| c 1550 R. Bieston Bayte Fortune B ij b, By arrogance oultrageous thy tounge on vaunting swerueth. 1570 T. Norton Nowel's Catech. 9 Our soules are sayd to be defiled with adulterie, when they swarue [orig. deflectunt] from God to idolatrie and superstition. a 1586 Sidney Ps. xxxvii. xviii, Who be swarved To ill, both they and theirs shall wrack. 1850 Tennyson In Mem. lxxxv, My passion hath not swerved To works of weakness. 1882 J. H. Blunt Ref. Ch. Eng. II. 485 Charles..was never in danger of swerving toward either Romanism on the one hand, or Puritanism on the other. 1885–94 R. Bridges Eros & Psyche March x, And to the Cretan maid her worship swerved. |
† d. Without constr.: To deviate from the right; to err; to go astray, esp. morally; to transgress.
| 1576 W. Rawely in Gascoigne Steele Gl. Wks. 1910 II. 139 The life likewise, were pure that never swerved. 1576 Fleming Panopl. Epist. 163 Saying, that at no time our deedes haue so swerued, that they might be amended. 1602 Warner Alb. Eng. xiii. lxxvii. (1612) 318 How all these Deities than Men more brutishly did swerue. 1611 Shakes. Cymb. v. iv. 129 But (alas) I swerue. |
† e. To go back on what one has said. Obs.
| 1527 St. Papers Hen. VIII, VI. 593 He many tymes swarfethe in wordes. 1529 Ibid. VII. 160 As thEmperouris folkis first sayd, but nowe swarfe. |
† 4. To give way; to sway, totter; fig. to shrink from action. Obs.
| 1573 Satir. Poems Reform. xxxix. 158 The Suddartis swarfit, and said thay wald not sar. a 1586 Sidney Arcadia iii. xxv. (1912) 502 My Muse hath swarved, From such deepe plaint as should such woes descrie. 1590 Spenser F.Q. ii. iii. 42 With that she swaruing backe, her Iauelin bright Against him bent. 1596 Drayton Legends iv. 276 With faintness shee began to reele, Shewing her selfe a little as shee swarv'd. 1611 Speed Hist. Gt. Brit. ix. xx. §68 This so round and quicke dealing with the Earles complices.., startled his shallow..inuentions, and made their whole bulke to swarue and splinter. 1649 Milton Tenure Kings 4 Another sort..begin to swerve and almost shiver at the majesty..of som noble deed, as if they were newly enter'd into a great sin. 1650 W. D. tr. Comenius' Gate Lat. Unl. §538 Beginning to totter and reel (swerve and lean to a side) it [sc. a house] must needs be shored up with some arch. 1667 Milton P.L. vi. 386 The battel swerv'd, With many an inrode gor'd. 1818 Shelley Euganean Hills 41 Every little living nerve That from bitter words did swerve Round the tortured lips and brow. |
5. To rove, stray. Also fig. to digress.
| 1543 Becon New Year's Gift Wks. 1564 I. 175 b, Al are swarued and clene gone out of the way. 1648 Herrick Hesper., Cheat of Cupid 10, I [sc. Cupid] a Boy am, who By Moonlesse nights have swerved. 1655 in Hartlib Ref. Commonw. Bees 9 In case that upon the neglect any be swarved forth, and settled unto some tree. 1658 A. Fox Würtz' Surg. ii. vi. 61 Now it is time to come to the Wound itself,..hitherto I swarved round about. 1698 A. Brand Emb. Muscovy to China 111 He had swarved about the Desart for three days. 1745 Gleditsch's Teutsch-Engl. Lex. s.v. Schwärmen, He swerves about by night. |
† 6. = swarm v.2, swarve v.2 Obs.
| 1606 Drayton Odes (1619) Skeltoniad 29 Parnassus is not clome By euery such Mome; Vp whose steep side who swerues, It behoues t' haue strong Nerues. 1692 Dryden Amaryllis 24 Nimbly up, from bough to bough I swerv'd. 1697 ― æneid ii. 606 Some mount the scaling Ladders; some more bold, Swerve upwards, and by Posts and Pillars hold. |
7. a. trans. To cause to turn aside or deviate (lit. and fig.).
| 1390 Gower Conf. I. 54 Bot he his yhe awey ne swerveth Fro hire. Ibid. III. 25. a 1552 Leland Itin. (1769) V. 73 He hath suarvid his Course a good But Shotte of. c 1590 J. Stewart Poems (S.T.S.) II. 204/6 That schrink of sorrow nether suerwe nor smart The Interpryse of thy magnanime hart. 1615 R. Brathwait Strappado (1878) 10 How manie haue wee in this error swerud Who in themselues haue iustly wel deserud. 1617 Swetnam Sch. Sci. Defence 142 The defence of this guard..is to swerue his vper-hand, this way, or that way. 1629 Sir W. Mure Sonn. ix. 2 A constant course..each creature keeps, Not swarving from thine ordinance their ends. 1659 Gauden Tears Ch. iv. xi. 460 Those Scotish motions and pretentions..swerved them..from the former good constitution of the Church of England. 1723 Dk. Wharton True Briton No. 9. I. 77 To swerve them from that Allegiance. 1801 E. Helme St. Marg. Cave II. 263 Your son has received my decided opinion, and from which nothing shall swerve me. 1816 Scott Antiq. viii, Swerve the yard a bit—Now—there! there she sits safe on dry land. 1878 Proctor Pleas. Ways Sci. iii. (1879) 69 We determine Jupiter's mass..by noting how he swerves his moons at their respective (estimated) distances. 1897 F. A. Steel On Face of Waters i. vi. 74 Swerving his bullock to give them room. |
b. Cricket and Baseball. To cause a ball to deflect by imparting a spinning motion to it as it leaves the bowler or pitcher. Chiefly intr. Of a delivery: to deviate in the air. Of a bowler: to bowl with a swerve.
| 1894 Cricket Field 437 Lockwood was bowled by a ball that swerved considerably in the air. 1903 C. B. Fry Let. Sept. in P. F. Warner How we recovered Ashes (1905) ii. 15 Much will depend on how you work your bowlers. I wonder which of your ‘swervers’ will swerve best in Australia? 1906 N. & Q. 10th Ser. V. 426/1 The word ‘swerve’ has been used in cricket for the last two seasons, as applied to the bowling of B. J. T. Bosanquet... He intentionally imparts a direction to the ball in its flight through the air before it touches ground. 1911 P. F. Warner Cricket 29 Such a [bowler] as Hirst, who swerves from the off at a fast pace. [Cf. swerve n., quot. 1901.] |
▪ III. swerve
variant of swarve v.1
| 1764 Museum Rust. II. xxxi. 103 (Sussex) The tides brought up the mud with them, and swerved to the depth, at some places, of six or eight feet. 1790 E. Hasted Hist. Kent III. 442 The river Limene's course hither by that means swerved up, and directed wholly into another channel. |
▪ IV. swerve
dial. var. swarf v., to swoon.