Sway vs Flail - What's the difference?
sway | flail |
The act of swaying; a swaying motion; a swing or sweep of a weapon.
A rocking or swinging motion.
Influence, weight, or authority that inclines to one side; as, the sway of desires.
Preponderance; turn or cast of balance.
Rule; dominion; control.
A switch or rod used by thatchers to bind their work.
The maximum amplitude of a vehicle's lateral motion
To move or swing from side to side; or backward and forward; to rock.
:
*
*: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.
To move or wield with the hand; to swing; to wield.
:
*(Edmund Spenser) (c.1552–1599)
*:As sparkles from the anvil rise, / When heavy hammers on the wedge are swayed .
To influence or direct by power, authority, persuasion, or by moral force; to rule; to govern; to guide. Compare persuade .
:
*(John Dryden) (1631-1700)
*:This was the race / To sway the world, and land and sea subdue.
To cause to incline or swing to one side, or backward and forward; to bias; to turn; to bend; warp.
:
*(John Tillotson) (1630-1694)
*:Let not temporal and little advantages sway you against a more durable interest.
(lb) To hoist (a mast or yard) into position.
:
To be drawn to one side by weight or influence; to lean; to incline.
*(Francis Bacon) (1561-1626)
*:The balance sways on our part.
To have weight or influence.
*(Richard Hooker) (1554-1600)
*:The example of sundry churchesdoth sway much.
To bear sway; to rule; to govern.
*(William Shakespeare) (c.1564–1616)
*:Hadst thou swayed as kings should do.
A tool used for threshing, consisting of a long handle with a shorter stick attached with a short piece of chain, thong or similar material.
A weapon which has the (usually spherical) striking part attached to the handle with a flexible joint such as a chain.
His shadowy flail hath threshed the corn
That ten day-labourers could not end; * 1816 — *: Huge fragments vaulted like rebounding hail,
Or chaffy grain beneath the thresher's flail * 1842 — *: On him alone the curse of Cain
Fell, like a flail on the garnered grain,
And struck him to the earth! * 1879 — , ch V *: If the farmer must use the spade because he has not capital enough for a plough, the sickle instead of the reaping machine, the flail instead of the thresher... To beat using a flail or similar implement.
To wave or swing vigorously
*
* 1937 , ,
To thresh.
To move like a flail.
As nouns the difference between sway and flail
is that sway is the act of swaying; a swaying motion; a swing or sweep of a weapon while flail is a tool used for threshing, consisting of a long handle with a shorter stick attached with a short piece of chain, thong or similar material.As verbs the difference between sway and flail
is that sway is to move or swing from side to side; or backward and forward; to rock while flail is to beat using a flail or similar implement.sway
English
(wikipedia sway)Noun
(en noun)- The old song caused a little sway in everyone in the room.
- I doubt I'll hold much sway with someone so powerful.
Verb
(en verb)See also
* persuadeAnagrams
* * English ergative verbsflail
English
Noun
(en noun)Quotations
* 1631 — *: When in one night, ere glimpse of morn,His shadowy flail hath threshed the corn
That ten day-labourers could not end; * 1816 — *: Huge fragments vaulted like rebounding hail,
Or chaffy grain beneath the thresher's flail * 1842 — *: On him alone the curse of Cain
Fell, like a flail on the garnered grain,
And struck him to the earth! * 1879 — , ch V *: If the farmer must use the spade because he has not capital enough for a plough, the sickle instead of the reaping machine, the flail instead of the thresher...
Coordinate terms
*(weapon) nunchakuVerb
(en verb)- He stopped in his tracks – then, flailing his arms wildly in the air, began to stagger backwards.
- He was flailing wildly, but didn't land a blow.
