thwartwise
- adverb
- Archaic
:
transversal
- The beams were placed thwartwise to support the structure.
Examples
-
The branches grew thwartwise across the path.
-
He arranged the furniture thwartwise to create more space.
-
The artist stretched the canvas thwartwise along the wooden frame.
-
The road ran thwartwise to the valley, making travel more difficult.
-
The beams were placed thwartwise to support the structure.
-
The artist stretched the canvas thwartwise along the wooden frame.
-
The road ran thwartwise to the valley, making travel more difficult.
Synonyms
8
6.8
Lying across something, usually at right angles to its main direction
1
6.7
In a way that goes across something at a right angle to its main direction
1
7.7
Across something at right angles to its main direction
Lying across something at right angles to its main part
A line that cuts across two or more other lines
Lying across something at right angles
Across a place at an angle
Surface Forms
Morphology
thwartwise = thwart (semi-transparent) = thwart + wise
The formation is regular (thwart + -wise), but the base sense 'thwart' meaning 'crosswise' is relatively rare and may be confused with the common verb 'thwart' ('to foil'), so learners may not readily recover the meaning.
Etymology
The word thwartwise comes from thwart ('across') and the ending -wise ('in the way of'), as in clockwise. So thwartwise means 'in a crosswise direction', like a beam placed at right angles to another.