Verb

(en verb)

To move or swing from side to side; or backward and forward; to rock.

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*

*: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.

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*(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 .

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*(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.

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*(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.

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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.

Verb

(ergative) To cause (something) to move rapidly in opposite directions alternatingly.

* {{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham), title=(The China Governess)

, chapter=19 citation , passage=Meanwhile Nanny Broome was recovering from her initial panic and seemed anxious to make up for any kudos she might have lost, by exerting her personality to the utmost. She took the policeman's helmet and placed it on a chair, and unfolded his tunic to shake it and fold it up again for him.}}

To move (one's head) from side to side, especially to indicate a negative.

To move or remove by agitating; to throw off by a jolting or vibrating motion.

* (William Shakespeare) (1564-1616)

Shake off the golden slumber of repose.

* (John Bunyan) (1628-1688)

I could scarcely shake him out of my company.

To disturb emotionally; to shock.

* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-07-20, volume=408, issue=8845, magazine=(The Economist)

, title= The attack of the MOOCs , passage=Since the launch early last year of […] two Silicon Valley start-ups offering free education through MOOCs, massive open online courses, the ivory towers of academia have been shaken to their foundations. University brands built in some cases over centuries have been forced to contemplate the possibility that information technology will rapidly make their existing business model obsolete.}}

To lose, evade, or get rid of (something).

To move from side to side.

*, chapter=23

, title= The Mirror and the Lamp , passage=The slightest effort made the patient cough. He would stand leaning on a stick and holding a hand to his side, and when the paroxysm had passed it left him shaking .}}

To shake hands.

To dance.

To give a tremulous tone to; to trill.