swerve
verb /swɜːv/
/swɜːrv/
[intransitive]Verb Forms
| present simple I / you / we / they swerve | /swɜːv/ /swɜːrv/ |
| he / she / it swerves | /swɜːvz/ /swɜːrvz/ |
| past simple swerved | /swɜːvd/ /swɜːrvd/ |
| past participle swerved | /swɜːvd/ /swɜːrvd/ |
| -ing form swerving | /ˈswɜːvɪŋ/ /ˈswɜːrvɪŋ/ |
- (especially of a vehicle) to change direction suddenly, especially in order to avoid hitting somebody/something
- She swerved sharply to avoid a cyclist.
- The bus suddenly swerved into his path.
- The ball swerved into the net.
Extra ExamplesTopics Transport by car or lorryc1- The car veered out of control and swerved across the road.
- The vehicle swerved off the road.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverb- sharply
- violently
- dangerously
- …
- across
- around
- into
- …
- swerve to avoid somebody/something
Word OriginOld English sweorfan ‘depart, leave, turn aside’, of Germanic origin; related to Middle Dutch swerven ‘to stray’.