overthwart
UK/əʊvəˈθwɔːt/
overthwart preposition: from one side to the other of.
Preposition
overthwart
- From one side to the other of.
- […] entrance, and access on all sides, by the felling of huge Trees overthwart one another, was quite barr’d up;1670, John Milton, The History of Britain, London: James Allestry, Book 2, p. 42
Adverb
overthwart (comparative more overthwart, superlative most overthwart)
- From side to side.
- For when a Gyant’s slain in fight,
And mow’d orethwart, or cleft downright,
It is a heavy case, no doubt,
A man should have his Brains beat out,
Because he’s tall, and has large Bones;1663, Samuel Butler, Hudibras, London: Canto 2, page 36 - [...] they are ioyned by two and two together, and every couple sustaineth a third stone lying overthwart, gatewise, which is fastened by the meanes of tenons that enter into mortaises of those stones not closed with any cement.1876, William Long, Esq., Stonehenge and its Barrows. From the Wiltshire Archæological and Natural History Magazine, etc. [With maps and wood-engravings.], →OCLC, page 25
- For when a Gyant’s slain in fight,
Adjective
overthwart (comparative more overthwart, superlative most overthwart)
- Having a transverse position; placed or situated across; hence, opposite.
- By and by after his iumping vppon them, the Saxons for that Garianonum, or Yarmoth that had giuen vp the ghoſt, in thoſe ſlymie plaſhie fieldes of Gorlſtone trowled vp a ſecond Yarmouth, abutting on the Weſt ſide of the ſhore of this great Yarmouth, that is, but feeling the ayre to be vnholſome and...1599, [Thomas] Nashe, Nashes Lenten Stuffe, […], London: […] [Thomas Judson and Valentine Simmes] for N[icholas] L[ing] and C[uthbert] B[urby] […], →OCLC, page 9
- […] we whisper, for fear our over-thwart Neighbours
Should hear us cry, Liberty, and betray us to the Government.1692, John Dryden, Cleomenes, the Spartan Heroe, London: Jacob Tonson, act V, page 65
- Crossing in kind or disposition.
- So prowde of hart,
So overthwart,
So out of frame,
So voyde of shame, […]1513, John Skelton, Agaynst the Scottes; republished in John Scattergood, editor, John Skelton: The Complete English Poems, 1983, →OCLC, page 116, lines 35–38 - He had pass’d two or three Acts of Parliament, which had much lessen’d the Authority and Dependence of the Nobility, and great Men, and incens’d, and dispos’d them proportionably to cross, and oppose any Proposition, which would be most grateful; and that overthwart humour was enough discover’d to...1702, Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon, The History of the Rebellion and Civil Wars in England, Oxford, published 1717, Volume 1, Part 1, p. 83
- So prowde of hart,
Noun
overthwart (plural overthwarts)
- That which is overthwart; an adverse circumstance; opposition.
- A hart wel stayd, in ouerthwartes depe,
Hopeth amendes: in swete, doth feare the sowre.1557, Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, “Praise of meane and constant estate”, in Songes and sonettes, London: Richard Tottel - We thinke the heavens enjoy their Sphericall
Their round proportion embracing all.
But yet their various and perplexed course,
Observ’d in divers ages doth enforce
Men to finde out so many Eccentrique parts,
Such divers downe-right lines, such overthwarts,
As disproportion that pure forme. […]1611, John Donne, An Anatomy of the World, London: Samuel Macham
- A hart wel stayd, in ouerthwartes depe,
Synonyms of overthwart
Forms of overthwart
| Adverb | |
|---|---|
| comparative | more overthwart |
| superlative | most overthwart |
| Adjective | |
| comparative | more overthwart |
| superlative | most overthwart |
| Noun | |
| plural | overthwarts |
Origin of overthwart
From Middle English overthwart, overthwert, overtwert, overquert, overwhart, equivalent to over- + thwart. Compare Dutch overdwaars (“across”), Danish overtvært (“across”).
Words formed from overthwart
Questions about overthwart
- What does overthwart mean?
- Overthwart means from one side to the other of.
- What part of speech is overthwart?
- Overthwart can be a preposition, an adverb, an adjective or a noun.
- How do you pronounce overthwart?
- Overthwart is pronounced /əʊvəˈθwɔːt/ (UK).
Words near overthwart in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: overthwart (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Cite this entry: “overthwart.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/overthwart. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.