Thwart

thwart
    n 1: a crosspiece spreading the gunnels of a boat; used as a
         seat in a rowboat [syn: {thwart}, {cross thwart}]
    v 1: hinder or prevent (the efforts, plans, or desires) of;
         "What ultimately frustrated every challenger was Ruth's
         amazing September surge"; "foil your opponent" [syn:
         {thwart}, {queer}, {spoil}, {scotch}, {foil}, {cross},
         {frustrate}, {baffle}, {bilk}]
    

Thwart \Thwart\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Thwarted}; p. pr. & vb. n.
   {Thwarting}.]
   1. To move across or counter to; to cross; as, an arrow
      thwarts the air. [Obs.]
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            Swift as a shooting star
            In autumn thwarts the night.          --Milton.
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   2. To cross, as a purpose; to oppose; to run counter to; to
      contravene; hence, to frustrate or defeat.
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            If crooked fortune had not thwarted me. --Shak.
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            The proposals of the one never thwarted the
            inclinations of the other.            --South.
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Thwart \Thwart\, adv. [See {Thwart}, a.]
   Thwartly; obliquely; transversely; athwart. [Obs.] --Milton.
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Thwart \Thwart\, prep.
   Across; athwart. --Spenser.
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   {Thwart ships}. See {Athwart ships}, under {Athwart}.
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Thwart \Thwart\, n. (Naut.)
   A seat in an open boat reaching from one side to the other,
   or athwart the boat.
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Thwart \Thwart\, a. [OE. [thorn]wart, [thorn]wert, a. and adv.,
   Icel. [thorn]vert, neut. of [thorn]verr athwart, transverse,
   across; akin to AS. [thorn]weorh perverse, transverse, cross,
   D. dwars, OHG. dwerah, twerh, G. zwerch, quer, Dan. & Sw.
   tver athwart, transverse, Sw. tv[aum]r cross, unfriendly,
   Goth. [thorn]wa['i]rhs angry. Cf. {Queer}.]
   1. Situated or placed across something else; transverse;
      oblique.
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            Moved contrary with thwart obliquities. --Milton.
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   2. Fig.: Perverse; crossgrained. [Obs.] --Shak.
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Thwart \Thwart\, v. i.
   1. To move or go in an oblique or crosswise manner. [R.]
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   2. Hence, to be in opposition; to clash. [R.]
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            Any proposition . . . that shall at all thwart with
            internal oracles.                     --Locke.
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116 Moby Thesaurus words for "thwart":
      across, across the grain, annul, athwart, athwartships, baffle,
      balk, beat, bench, bendwise, bias, biased, biaswise, bilk, blast,
      block, brace, brave, bring to nothing, buffer, cancel, cancel out,
      cast down, catercorner, catercornered, challenge, check, checkmate,
      circumvent, come to nothing, confound, confront, contrariwise,
      contravene, contrawise, counter, counteract, counterbalance,
      countermand, counterwork, crisscross, cross, cross-grained,
      crossing, crossway, crossways, crosswise, curb, dash, defeat,
      defeat expectation, defy, destroy, diagonal, disappoint, discomfit,
      disconcert, discountenance, dish, disillusion, disrupt, dissatisfy,
      elude, flummox, foil, foul up, frustrate, gum up, hinder, impede,
      invalidate, kittycorner, knock the chocks, let down, negate,
      negativate, negative, neutralize, nonplus, nullify, oblique,
      obliquely, obstruct, offset, oppose, overthwart, perplex, queer,
      restrain, ruin, sabotage, scotch, short-circuit, sideways,
      sidewise, slant, spike, spoil, stonewall, stop, stultify, stump,
      style, stymie, tantalize, tease, thwartly, thwartways, transversal,
      transverse, transversely, traverse, undo, upset, vitiate, void