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# swerve

verb (swerve, swerves, swerved, swerving); noun (a swerve, swerves)

«swerve» in the English dictionary: everyday — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## Everyday

1. To swerve is to change direction suddenly, especially to avoid hitting something: the car swerved to miss the dog. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/swerve/#m1)
2. A swerve is a sudden change of direction. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/swerve/#m2)
3. (UK, slang) To swerve something is to avoid it on purpose: I swerved that party. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/swerve/#m3)

### In the lessons

In road safety lessons, cars and bikes may swerve, so look carefully before crossing. In sports, a ball can swerve in the air; a player swerves past a defender. In stories it shows sudden danger. Phrases: swerve to avoid, swerve off the road, make a swerve.

### Examples

- The bus swerved to avoid a fallen tree. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/swerve/#x1)
- The cyclist swerved and nearly fell off. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/swerve/#x2)
- His free kick swerved into the top corner of the goal. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/swerve/#x3)
- She swerved past two defenders and scored. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/swerve/#x4)
- The car made a sudden swerve. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/swerve/#x5)
- Never run into the road: a driver may not be able to swerve in time. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/swerve/#x6)
- I'm going to swerve the maths club today, said Leo (slang). [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/swerve/#x7)

### Note

Regular verb: swerved, swerving. Similar words: veer, turn sharply, dodge. The slang meaning «avoid» is UK teenage talk, not used in formal writing.

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of «swerve» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/swerve/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«swerve» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/swerve.html) on Mova free.