traverse

Syllables: tra·verse/tɹəˈvɜːs/US/tɹəˈvɝs/

traverse noun: a route used in mountaineering, specifically rock climbing, in which the descent occurs by a different route than the ascent.

Noun

traverse (plural traverses)

A route used in mountaineering, specifically rock climbing, in which the descent occurs by a different route than the ascent.
A series of points, with angles and distances measured between, traveled around a subject, usually for use as "control" i.e. angular reference system for later surveying work.
- At the entrance of the king, the first traverse was drawn, and the lower descent of the mountain discovered, which was the pendant of a hill to life, with divers boscages and grovets upon the steep or hanging grounds thereof.1811, Ben Jonson, The Dramatic Works: Embellished with Portraits, volume 4, page 571
(obsolete) A screen or partition.
- Than sholde ye see there pressynge in a pace / Of one and other that wolde this lady see, / Whiche sat behynde a traves of sylke fyne, / Of golde of tessew the fynest that myghte be […]1499, John Skelton, The Bowge of Court
- At the entrance of the king, / The first traverse was drawn.1613, Francis Beaumont, The Masque of the Inner Temple and Gray's Inn
Something that thwarts or obstructs.
- He will succeed, as long as there are no unlucky traverses not under his control.
A gallery or loft of communication from side to side of a church or other large building.
A formal denial of some matter of fact alleged by the opposite party in any stage of the pleadings. The technical words introducing a traverse are absque hoc ("without this", i.e. without what follows).
The zigzag course or courses made by a ship in passing from one place to another; a compound course.
- Two years earlier another U.S. submarine, U.S.S. Nautilus, had made history by completing the first undersea traverse of the North Pole.1990 August, John Bockstoce, “Changing Images of the Northwest Passage”, in National Geographic, volume 178, number 2, page 15
A line lying across a figure or other lines; a transversal.
In trench warfare, a defensive trench built to prevent enfilade.
- At night, when the Federal guns slowed their fire, the men created new traverses and bombproofs.1994, Stephen R. Wise, Gate of Hell: Campaign for Charleston Harbor, 1863, page 160
A traverse board.
- The whole care of the vessel rested, therefore, upon me, and I was obliged to direct her by my former experience, not being able to work a traverse.1789, Olaudah Equiano, chapter 7, in The Interesting Narrative, volume I

Verb

traverse (third-person singular simple present traverses, present participle traversing, simple past and past participle traversed)

(transitive) To travel across, to go through, to pass through, particularly under difficult conditions.
- He will have to traverse the mountain to get to the other side.
- What seas you travers'd, and what fields you fought! / Your country's peace how oft, how dearly bought!1737, Alexander Pope, First Epistle on the Second Book of Horace, lines 396–397; republished in The Complete Poetical Works of Alexander Pope, Boston, New York: Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1902...
(transitive) To visit all parts of; to explore thoroughly.
- to traverse all nodes in a network
To lay in a cross direction; to cross.
- The parts should be often traversed, or crossed, by the flowing of the folds.1695, C[harles] A[lphonse] du Fresnoy, translated by John Dryden, De Arte Graphica. The Art of Painting, […], London: […] J[ohn] Heptinstall for W. Rogers, […], →OCLC
To rotate a gun around a vertical axis to bear upon a military target.
- to traverse a cannon
To climb or descend a steep hill at a wide angle (relative to the slope).
To (make a cutting, an incline) across the gradients of a sloped face at safe rate.
- the road traversed the face of the ridge as the right-of-way climbed the mountain
- The last run, weary, I traversed the descents in no hurry to reach the lodge.
To act against; to thwart or obstruct.
- The well meaning Prieſt ſuffered him to deceive himſelf, fully determined to traverſe his views, inſtead of ſeconding them.1764 December 24 (indicated as 1765), Onuphrio Muralto, translated by William Marshal [pseudonyms; Horace Walpole], chapter II, in The Castle of Otranto, […], London: […] Tho[mas] Lownds […], →OCLC...
- I cannot but […] admit the force of this reasoning, which I yet hope to traverse.1819 December 20 (indicated as 1820), Walter Scott, Ivanhoe; a Romance. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), Edinburgh: […] Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co....
To pass over and view; to survey carefully.
- My purpose is to […] traverse the nature, principles, and properties of this detestable vice—ingratitude.1675, Robert South, Of the odious Sin of Ingratitude (A Sermon preached at Christ-Church, Oxon, October 17, 1675)
To plane in a direction across the grain of the wood.
- to traverse a board
To deny formally.
- Without their coſt, you terminate the cauſe; / And ſave th' expence of long litigious laws: / Where ſuits are travers'd; and ſo little won, / That he who conquers, is but laſt undone: […]a. 1701 (date written), John Dryden, “Epistle the Thirteenth. To My Honoured Kinsman, John Dryden, of Chesterton, in the County of Huntingdon, Esq”, in The Miscellaneous Works of John Dryden, […]...
(intransitive) To use the motions of opposition or counteraction.

Adverb

traverse (comparative more traverse, superlative most traverse)

athwart; across; crosswise

Adjective

traverse (comparative more traverse, superlative most traverse)

Lying across; being in a direction across something else.
- paths cut with traverse trenches
- Oak […] being strong in all positions, may be better trusted in cross and traverse work.1624, Henry Wotton, The Elements of Architecture, […], London: […] Iohn Bill, →OCLC

Proper noun capitalized: Traverse

Traverse (plural Traverses)

A surname from French.

traverse meaning in Tamil, Urdu, Malayalam and Kannada

traverse in Tamil

ஊடு கட, கடந்து செல், குறுக்கூடு வழி, மறுதலிப்பு, மறுதளிப்பு, நடக்கை

traverse in Urdu

to travel across, often under difficult conditions: پار کرنا

traverse in Malayalam

വിലങ്ങനെയുള്ള, കുറുക്കെയുള്ള

traverse in Kannada

ಅಡ್ಡ ಹಾಯು, ಅಡ್ಡ ಬರು, ದಾಟು, ಸಾಗು, ಹಾದಿಸವೆಸು, ಪೂರ್ತಿ ದಾಟು

More languagesFewer languages

traverse in Odia: ଟ୍ରାଭର୍ସ କରନ୍ତୁ
traverse in Sanskrit: तरति tarati
traverse in Nepali: ट्राभर्स
traverse in Arabic: اِجْتَازَ ijtāza, عَبَرَ ʕabara

Examples of traverse in a sentence

Such a ship was too big to traverse the C&D, whose locks could not accommodate it.
A course was plotted to traverse the ocean.
Sarner's being a baby about his resurrection.” “I traversed the black mountain.

All 40 example sentences with traverse

Forms of traverse

Noun
plural	traverses
Verb
third-person singular present	traverses
present participle	traversing
past participle	traversed
past	traversed
Adverb
comparative	more traverse
superlative	most traverse
Adjective
comparative	more traverse
superlative	most traverse
Proper noun
plural	Traverses

Past tense of traverse: traversed

Plural of traverse: traverses

Origin of traverse

From Middle English traversen, from Old French traverser, from Latin trans (“across”) + versus (“turned”), perfect passive participle of Latin vertere (“to turn”).

Borrowed from French Traverse.

Words formed from traverse

Phrases with traverse

Words that rhyme with traverse

36 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about traverse

What does traverse mean?: Traverse means a route used in mountaineering, specifically rock climbing, in which the descent occurs by a different route than the ascent.
What is traverse in Tamil?: Traverse in Tamil is ஊடு கட, கடந்து செல், குறுக்கூடு வழி. See Traverse meaning in Tamil.
What part of speech is traverse?: Traverse can be a noun, a verb, an adverb or an adjective.
How do you pronounce traverse?: Traverse is pronounced /tɹəˈvɝs/ (US).
What is the plural of traverse?: The plural of traverse is traverses.

Words near traverse in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: traverse (page history and authors); Traverse (page history and authors); traverse (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); traverse (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); traverse (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); traverse (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); traverse (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). 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: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-traverse.wav.

Cite this entry: “traverse.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/traverse. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.