athwart
1
9.9
- adposition
- /əˈθwɔrt/
- Archaic
:
a través
- The artist painted a line athwart the canvas to create a sense of movement.
- stood athwart
- sit athwart
Examples
-
But many of the states with high-profile conservative governors vowing to stand athwart the ACA's progress, by refusing to expand their Medicaid programs and erecting hurdles to establishing insurance marketplaces, would stand to gain the most from successful implementation of the law.
Blog text (20) -
The river flows athwart the valley, dividing it into two distinct regions.
-
I see a long, straight line athwart a continent.
-
I just don't think it makes sense to try to stand athwart the door of history.
Blog text (18) -
You can try to stand athwart the great sweep of history, but it won't work.
Blog text (19) -
Here they descended into the sea and stood athwart the filament there?
Fiction book (1992) -
He gathered some cold meals, turned back, and found Noemi Reyes standing athwart the door.
Fiction book (1999) -
For a moment, the question lay athwart Klinger’s conscience like a mudslide across a road.
Fiction book (1994) -
Singing, high on the wire, the god stood athwart a velvet-dark sky, dust-mote stars swirling around the massive spires of his huge legs.
Fiction book (1990) -
A fence was built athwart the field to keep the animals from wandering away.
Synonyms
295
1.0
From one side of something to the other side
100
2.1
At or toward the side instead of straight ahead
1
7.7
Across something at right angles to its main direction
Across the width of something from one short side to the other
Across a ship from one side to the other
Antonyms
Idioms
How Across
Surface Forms
Morphology
athwart = (semi-transparent) = a + thwart
The structure a- + 'thwart' exists historically, but 'a-' is not productive and 'thwart' as 'across' is archaic, so inference is only partially reliable. [Postprocessing: moved 'thwart' from base_words to prefix]
Etymology
Athwart comes from the old word thwart meaning 'across' with the prefix a- meaning 'on'. A helpful way to remember athwart is that writers use it to say something lies 'across' or blocks the way, often in poetry or old stories.