From WordNet (r) 2.0 (August 2003) [wn]:
thwart
n : a crosspiece spreading the gunnels of a boat; used as a seat
in a rowboat [syn: cross thwart]
v : hinder or prevent (the efforts, plans, or desires) of; "What
ultimately frustrated every challenger was Ruth's amazing
September surge"; "foil your opponent" [syn: queer,
spoil, scotch, foil, cross, frustrate,
baffle, bilk]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Thwart \Thwart\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Thwarted; p. pr. & vb. n.
Thwarting.]
1. To move across or counter to; to cross; as, an arrow
thwarts the air. [Obs.]
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Swift as a shooting star
In autumn thwarts the night. --Milton.
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2. To cross, as a purpose; to oppose; to run counter to; to
contravene; hence, to frustrate or defeat.
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If crooked fortune had not thwarted me. --Shak.
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The proposals of the one never thwarted the
inclinations of the other. --South.
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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Thwart \Thwart\, adv. [See Thwart, a.]
Thwartly; obliquely; transversely; athwart. [Obs.] --Milton.
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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Thwart \Thwart\, prep.
Across; athwart. --Spenser.
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Thwart ships. See Athwart ships, under Athwart.
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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Thwart \Thwart\, n. (Naut.)
A seat in an open boat reaching from one side to the other,
or athwart the boat.
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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Thwart \Thwart\, a. [OE. [thorn]wart, [thorn]wert, a. and adv.,
Icel. [thorn]vert, neut. of [thorn]verr athwart, transverse,
across; akin to AS. [thorn]weorh perverse, transverse, cross,
D. dwars, OHG. dwerah, twerh, G. zwerch, quer, Dan. & Sw.
tver athwart, transverse, Sw. tv[aum]r cross, unfriendly,
Goth. [thorn]wa['i]rhs angry. Cf. Queer.]
1. Situated or placed across something else; transverse;
oblique.
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Moved contrary with thwart obliquities. --Milton.
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2. Fig.: Perverse; crossgrained. [Obs.] --Shak.
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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Thwart \Thwart\, v. i.
1. To move or go in an oblique or crosswise manner. [R.]
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2. Hence, to be in opposition; to clash. [R.]
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Any proposition . . . that shall at all thwart with
internal oracles. --Locke.
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