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thwart

/θwɔːt/

noun

Meaning

  • A seat across a boat on which a rower may sit.

    "The fisherman sat on the aft thwart to row."

  • A brace, perpendicular to the keel, that helps maintain the beam of a marine vessel against external water pressure and that may serve to support the rail.

    "A well-made dugout canoe rarely needs a thwart."

  • An act of thwarting; something which thwarts; a hindrance, an obstacle.

Synonyms

thaught,
thawt,
thoft

verb

Meaning

  • To cause to fail; to frustrate, to prevent.

    "Our plans for a picnic were thwarted by the thunderstorm."

  • To place (something) across (another thing); to position crosswise.

  • To hinder or obstruct by placing (something) in the way of; to block, to impede, to oppose.

  • To move (something) across or counter to; to cross.

    "An arrow thwarts the air."

Synonyms

balk,
foil,
spoil

adjective

Meaning

  • Placed or situated across something else; cross, oblique, transverse.

  • Of people: having a tendency to oppose; obstinate, perverse, stubborn.

  • Of situations or things: adverse, unfavourable, unlucky.

Synonyms

cross-grained,
froward,
unpropitious,
untoward

adverb

Meaning

  • Across the direction of travel or length of; athwart, crosswise, obliquely, transversely.

preposition

Meaning

  • Across, athwart.