# swerve

> English word · Verb · IPA /swɜːv/ · frequency rank #30,997

## Definitions
1. To stray; to wander; to rove.
2. To go out of a straight line; to deflect.
3. To wander from any line prescribed, or from a rule or duty; to depart from what is established by law, duty, custom, or the like; to deviate.
4. To bend; to incline; to give way.
5. To climb or move upward by winding or turning.
6. To turn aside or deviate to avoid impact.
7. Of a projectile, to travel in a curved line
8. To drive in the trajectory of another vehicle to stop it, to cut off.
9. To go out of one's way to avoid; to snub.

## Etymology
From Middle English swerven, swarven, from Old English sweorfan (“to file; rub; polish; scour; turn aside”), from Proto-Germanic *swerbaną (“to rub off; wipe; mop”), from Proto-Indo-European *swerbʰ- (“to turn; wipe; sweep”). Cognate with West Frisian swerve (“to wander; roam; swerve”), Dutch zwerven (“to wander; stray; roam”), Low German swarven (“to swerve; wander; riot”), Swedish dialectal svärva (“to wipe”), Icelandic sverfa (“to file”).

## Easily confused with
- **swore** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/swerve-vs-swore)
- **serve** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/serve-vs-swerve)
- **Steve** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/steve-vs-swerve)
- **serie** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/serie-vs-swerve)
- **serge** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/serge-vs-swerve)
- **swede** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/swede-vs-swerve)
- **sieve** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sieve-vs-swerve)
- **servo** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/servo-vs-swerve)
- **served** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/served-vs-swerve)
- **server** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/server-vs-swerve)
- **serves** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/serves-vs-swerve)
- **sleeve** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sleeve-vs-swerve)
- **starve** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/starve-vs-swerve)

## Common misspellings (9)
`sewrve`, `sswerve`, `swerev`, `swerrve`, `swervve`, `swevre`, `swreve`, `swwerve`, `wserve`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/swerve