tr. & intr.v., swerved, swerv·ing, swerves.

To turn aside or be turned aside from a straight course.

n.

The act of swerving.

[Middle English swerven, from Old English sweorfan, to rub, scour.]

SYNONYMS  swerve, depart, deviate, digress, diverge, stray, veer. These verbs mean to turn away from a straight or prescribed course: a gaze that never swerved; won't depart from family traditions; deviated from the original plan; digressed from the main topic; opinions that diverged; strays from the truth; a conversation that veered away from sensitive issues.

verb

1. To turn aside sharply from a straight course: chop², cut, sheer¹, skew, slue¹, veer. Nautical yaw. See change/persist.
2. To turn away from a prescribed course of action or conduct: depart, deviate, digress, diverge, stray, veer. Archaic err. See approach/retreat, correct/incorrect.

v

Definition: turn aside, often to avoid collision
Antonyms: straighten

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Note: click on a word meaning below to see its connections and related words.

The noun has 2 meanings:

Meaning #1: the act of turning aside suddenly
  Synonyms: swerving, veering

Meaning #2: an erratic deflection from an intended course
  Synonym: yaw

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The verb swerve has one meaning:

Meaning #1: turn sharply; change direction abruptly
  Synonyms: sheer, curve, trend, veer, slue, slew, cut

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Dansk (Danish)
v. tr. - svinge, dreje brat, vige ud, afvige
v. intr. - svinge, dreje brat, vige ud, afvige
n. - sving, drejning, sidebevægelse

Nederlands (Dutch)
(uit)zwenken, zwenking

Français (French)
v. tr. - faire un écart à (un véhicule)
v. intr. - faire un écart, (fig) s'écarter de
n. - écart

Deutsch (German)
v. - einen Bogen machen, ausschwenken
n. - Bogen, Schlenker

Ελληνική (Greek)
v. - εκτρέπομαι πλαγίως, παρεκκλίνω, κάνω στραβοτιμονιά
n. - πλάγια εκτροπή, παρέκκλιση, στραβοτιμονιά

Italiano (Italian)
volgere, sterzata

Português (Portuguese)
v. - desviar
n. - desvio (m)

Русский (Russian)
отклонение (от курса), отклоняться, отклонять, вилять (об автомобиле)

Español (Spanish)
v. tr. - desviar, apartar, torcer
v. intr. - desviarse, apartarse, separarse, torcer (cambiar de dirección), vacilar, flaquear
n. - giro, viraje, desviación, vacilación

Svenska (Swedish)
v. - vika av, svänga (åt sidan), avvika
n. - vridning, sväng, sidorörelse

中文（简体） (Chinese (Simplified))
使突然转向, 使背离, 使转弯, 突然转向, 背离, 转弯, 转向, 弯曲

中文（繁體） (Chinese (Traditional))
v. tr. - 使突然轉向, 使背離, 使轉彎
v. intr. - 突然轉向, 背離, 轉彎
n. - 轉向, 背離, 彎曲

한국어 (Korean)
v. tr. - 빗나가게 하다, 벗어나게 하다
v. intr. - 벗어나게 하다, 커브 시키다
n. - 벗어남, 빗나감, 굽음

日本語 (Japanese)
v. - それる, 正道を踏みはずす, それさせる
n. - それ, 曲球

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(فعل) ينحرف , يحرف (الاسم) انحراف‏

עברית (Hebrew)
v. tr. - ‮סטה, עשה תפנית‬
v. intr. - ‮סטה, עשה תפנית‬
n. - ‮סטייה, תפנית, מפנה‬

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