sway (swa)

[ On which men hakketh ofte for the nones, Receyved hath the happy fallyng str ok, The grete sweigh [var. swough ) doth it to come al atones. Chaucer , Troilus, ii. 1383. Expert When to advance, or stand, or turn the sway Of battel. Milton , P. L., vi. 234. With huge two-handed sway Brandish'd aloft, the horrid edge came down Wide-wasting. Milton , P. L., vi. 251. 2. Weight; force, as of some heavy or powerful agent. In gallant trim the gilded ve el goes,... Regardle of the sweeping whirlwind's sway , That, hush'd in grim repose, expects his evening prey. Gray, The Bard, ii. 3. Rule; control; government: probably in allusion to the sway of the scepter, or of the sword, embodying and illustrating government. The whole sway is in the people's hands, who voluntarily appoint those magistrates by whose authority they may be governed. Hooker, Eccles. Polity, vii. 14. Five chosen leaders the fierce bands obey, Himself supreme in valour, as in sway . Pope , Iliad, xvi. 209. The sway Scott, Marmion, iii., Int. Of habit form'd in early day. Horrible forms of worship, that, of old, Held o'er the shuddering realms unquestioned sway . Bryant, The Ages, xxv. 4. An instrument of rule or management. [Rare.] The Sword is the surest Sway over all People, who ought to be cudgeled rather than cajoled to Obedience. Howell, Letters, iv. 47. 5. A switch used by thatchers to bind their work. Syn. 3. Influence, Ascendancy, etc. See author ity. sway-backed (swa'bakt), a. 1. Same as swayed. -2. Having the back naturally sagged or hollowed to an unusual degree, as a horse. The Ts'aid am ponies are of a very poor breed, mostly sway- backed , and with such long hoofs that they are bad mountain animals. The Century , XLI. 357. sway-bar (swāʼbär), n . In a vehicle, a bar on the hinder end of the fore hounds, resting on the coupling-poles, and sliding on them when the wagon turns. Also called slider , sweep - bar . E. H. Knight.