swerves

verb

present tense third-person singular of swerve
1
as in veers
to depart abruptly from a straight line or course the car swerved sharply to avoid the squirrel in the road

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in curves
to turn away from a straight line or course the bike path gently swerves to the right

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in bends
to cause to turn away from a straight line a dog dashed out in front of me and made me swerve my bike to one side of the bike path

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
4
as in deviates
to change one's course or direction the hurricane had been following the coastline before it swerved and headed inland

Synonyms & Similar Words

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of swerves Surveillance video obtained by ABC7 New York shows two men fighting in the street before gunshots ring out, and a vehicle swerves around the moped, appearing to flee the scene. — Rebecca White, New York Daily News, 23 Aug. 2026 The artist adopts a schizoid persona, with multiple voices flowing out of him, and swerves between lucid social criticism—about the history of slavery or of higher education—and total gibberish. — Zachary Fine, New Yorker, 10 Aug. 2026 The elegant staging tries to compensate, but the performers have to rely a little too heavily on their own charms to make up the difference in a play that swerves unexpectedly at the end into a cutesy fairy tale. — Theater Critic, Los Angeles Times, 19 June 2026 At times comical, each of these stories swerves and plunges deep into dark truths of human nature. — Literary Hub, 9 June 2026 And then, quite predictably, Hacks swerves away from that pain at the last second. — Nicholas Quah, Vulture, 29 May 2026 The one who swerves first loses face but survives. — Frank Holmes, Forbes.com, 18 May 2026 The conversation swerves to the inevitable topic of AI and art. — Erin Entrada Kelly, PEOPLE, 11 May 2026 As the season swerves into Lap 2, let’s see who’s doing better (and worse) lately. — Levi Weaver, New York Times, 4 May 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for swerves
  1. veers
  2. curves
  3. bends
  4. deviates
  5. arches
  6. turns
  7. hooks
  8. swings
Verb
  • Most surprising, Just Us is marked by a lack of intellectual rigor that often veers close to bad faith.
    — Charles Finch, The Atlantic, 28 Aug. 2026
  • The performance is daringly weird, perverse and outlandish, seductively charming, and, for all the flamboyance, Curry never veers out of control, never takes it too far.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 28 Aug. 2026
Definition of veers
Verb
  • The aircraft, a C-17, is taller than any commercial vessel; ten feet above her head, the ceiling curves like a spaceship.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 31 Aug. 2026
  • But plenty of long-range computer models continue to show a future for the system, most as a tropical storm headed west toward the Caribbean, although plenty also show a potential track that curves north of Puerto Rico.
    — Alex Harris, Miami Herald, 27 Aug. 2026
Definition of curves
Verb
  • By looking at how dark matter’s gravity bends the light of galaxies, Roman will be able to measure this clumping.
    — Noah Haggerty, Los Angeles Times, 30 Aug. 2026
  • To study dark energy, Roman will measure how gravity bends light across large cosmic distances — creating a 3D map of dark matter in the process.
    — Ashley Strickland, CNN Money, 30 Aug. 2026
Definition of bends
Verb
  • Walsh’s spaceship deviates from many of the vessels seen in Star Wars, as those ships are often dirty and grubby to emphasize their use and wear.
    — Rachel Raposas, PEOPLE, 10 Aug. 2026
  • And the days are coming when AI is meaningfully involved in clinical care, beyond just transcribing our own words, and the follow-up recommendation deviates from the standard of care.
    — Frances Mei Hardin, STAT, 7 Aug. 2026
Definition of deviates
Verb
  • The ceiling arches in the back, hiding a tiny alcove where a couple sits tucked close, their legs tangled beneath the table.
    — Carly Tagen-Dye, PEOPLE, 12 Aug. 2026
  • The galaxy arches high across the sky, with its brightest and most detailed regions now well placed after dusk.
    — Jamie Carter, Space.com, 7 Aug. 2026
Definition of arches
Verb
  • The policy semantics and how a mandate propagates once delegation turns multi-hop, machine-initiated and cross-organizational remain implementation problems.
    — Dr. Aditya Vikram Kashyap, Forbes.com, 1 Sep. 2026
  • Killceañera, which turns a quinceañera into an event in which a teen takes revenge on her bullies, will feature an outdoor performer lip-syncing a song co-written by Murdy and Slash from a balcony.
    — Todd Martens, Los Angeles Times, 1 Sep. 2026
Definition of turns
Verb
  • Right before guests arrive, attach fishing line to the wire cage and hang the fall flower arrangement using cup hooks indoors or on nearby branches outside.
    — Maria Sabella, Architectural Digest, 20 Aug. 2026
  • Blatt hooks in a forehand for another match point opportunity, but Campbell wins an amazing rally for 22-22.
    — Todd Boss, Forbes.com, 10 Aug. 2026
Definition of hooks
Verb
  • The Slingshot surges forward as the tach swings toward redline, the exhaust emitting a guttural howl.
    — William Roberson, Forbes.com, 29 Aug. 2026
  • The country artist Kacey Musgraves swings through Madison Square Garden.
    — Sheldon Pearce, New Yorker, 28 Aug. 2026
Definition of swings

Browse Nearby Words

swerved
swerves
swerving
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Cite this Entry

“Swerves.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/swerves. Accessed 5 Sep. 2026.

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