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To cause to sway backward and forward, as a body resting on a support beneath; as, to rock a cradle or chair; to cause to vibrate; to cause to reel or totter. A rising earthquake rocked the ground. Dryden.

Having a swaying, rolling, or back-and-forth movement; used for rocking. Rocking shaft. (Mach.) See Rock shaft.

One who rules; one who exercises sway or authority; a governor. And he made him ruler over all the land. Gen. xii. 43. A prince and ruler of the land. Shak.

sure of care, trouble, doubt, or the like; to be unsettled or unbalanced. [R.] the mind I sway by, and the heart I bear, Shall never sag with doubt nor shake with fear. Shak.

ream so that its branches project above the surface, rising and falling with a rocking or swaying motion in the current. [U.S.]

by derisive acts or language; -- often with at. Thuth from his lips prevailed with double sway, And fools who came to scoff, remained to pray. Goldsmith.

or of being a sovereign; the exercise of, or right to exercise, supreme power; dominion; sway; supremacy; independence; also, that which is sovereign; a sovereign state; as, Italy was formerly divided into many sovereignties. Woman desiren to have sovereignty As well over their husband as over their love. Chaucer.…

er, as if about to fall, in standing or walking; not to stand or walk with steadiness; to sway; to reel or totter. Deep was the wound; he staggered with the blow. Dryden.

aratively quiet; to check the agitation of; as, to still the raging sea. He having a full sway over the water, had power to still and compose it, as well as to move and disturb it. Woodward.

To trail along; to saunter or be drawn along, carelessly, swaying in a kind of zigzag motion. [Colloq.] Thackeray.

To hang or move, as something loose and heavy; to sway; to swing. [Prov. Eng.]

To walk with a swaying motion; hence, to walk and act in a pompous, consequential manner. A man who swaggers about London clubs. Beaconsfield.

Sway; movement. [Obs.] Chaucer.

To sway or move from one side or direction to another; as, the door swung open.

Power; sway; influence. [Obs.]

und block strapped with a hook, and, when used, hung to an eyebolt in the cap, -- used in swaying and lowering the topmast. Totten.

turn the attention to or from something. "Expert when to advance, or stand, or, turn the sway of battle." Milton. Thrice I deluded her, and turned to sport Her importunity. Milton. My thoughts are turned on peace. Addison.

-- often used as an epithet equivalent to large, stout, strong, or powerful. "Two-handed sway." Milton.

ngoverned appetite . . . a brutish vice. Milton. When vice prevails, and impious men bear sway, The post of honor is a private station. Addison.

Influence; power; sway. [Obs.] Strype.