Swing vs Sway - What's the difference?
swing | sway |
To rotate about an off-centre fixed point.
* 1912 , (Edgar Rice Burroughs), (Tarzan of the Apes), Chapter 12
To dance.
To ride on a swing.
To participate in the lifestyle; to participate in wife-swapping.
To hang from the gallows.
(intransitive, cricket, of a ball) to move sideways in its trajectory.
To fluctuate or change.
To move (an object) backward and forward; to wave.
To change (a numerical result); especially to change the outcome of an election.
To make (something) work; especially to afford (something) financially.
(music) To play notes that are in pairs by making the first of the pair slightly longer than written (augmentation) and the second, resulting in a bouncy, uneven rhythm.
(cricket) (of a bowler) to make the ball move sideways in its trajectory.
(transitive, and, intransitive, boxing) To move one's arm in a punching motion.
In dancing, to turn around in a small circle with one's partner, holding hands or arms.
(engineering) To admit or turn something for the purpose of shaping it; said of a lathe.
(carpentry) To put (a door, gate, etc.) on hinges so that it can swing or turn.
(nautical) To turn round by action of wind or tide when at anchor.
The manner in which something is swung.
A line, cord, or other thing suspended and hanging loose, upon which anything may swing.
A hanging seat in a children's playground, for acrobats in a circus, or on a porch for relaxing.
* , chapter=12
, title= A dance style.
(music) The genre of music associated with this dance style.
The amount of change towards or away from something.
# (politics) In an election, the increase or decrease in the number of votes for opposition parties compared with votes for the incumbent party.
(cricket) Sideways movement of the ball as it flies through the air.
The diameter that a lathe can cut.
In a musical theater production, a performer who understudies several roles.
A basic dance step in which a pair link hands and turn round together in a circle.
Capacity of a turning lathe, as determined by the diameter of the largest object that can be turned in it.
(obsolete) Free course; unrestrained liberty.
* (John Dryden)
* Burke
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.
In nautical terms the difference between swing and sway
is that swing is to turn round by action of wind or tide when at anchor while sway is to hoist (a mast or yard) into position.As verbs the difference between swing and sway
is that swing is to rotate about an off-centre fixed point while sway is to move or swing from side to side; or backward and forward; to rock.As nouns the difference between swing and sway
is that swing is the manner in which something is swung while sway is the act of swaying; a swaying motion; a swing or sweep of a weapon.swing
English
(wikipedia swing)Etymology 1
From (etyl) swingen, from (etyl) swingan, from (etyl) (compare Scottish Gaelic seang 'thin').Verb
- The plant swung in the breeze.
- With one accord the tribe swung rapidly toward the frightened cries, and there found Terkoz holding an old female by the hair and beating her unmercifully with his great hands.
- The children laughed as they swung .
- It wasn't long before the crowd's mood swung towards restless irritability.
- He swung his sword as hard as he could.
- If it’s not too expensive, I think we can swing it.
- "to swing''' one's partner", or simply "to '''swing "
- The lathe can swing a pulley of 12 inches diameter.
- A ship swings with the tide.
Derived terms
* come out swingingTroponyms
*(to rotate about an off-centre fixed point) pivot, swivelEtymology 2
From the above verb.Noun
(en noun)The Mirror and the Lamp, passage=To Edward […] he was terrible, nerve-inflaming, poisonously asphyxiating. He sat rocking himself in the late Mr. Churchill's swing chair, smoking and twaddling.}}
- The polls showed a wide swing to Labour.
- Take thy swing .
- To prevent anything which may prove an obstacle to the full swing of his genius.
Quotations
* 1937 June 11, Judy Garland, “All God’s Chillun Got Rhythm”, A day at the races , Sam Wood (director), Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer *: All God’s chillun got rhythm. All God's chillun got swing . *: Maybe haven't got money, maybe haven't got shoes. *: All God’s chillun got rhythm for to [sic. ] push away their blues.Derived terms
* swing of thingssway
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.