Traverse

Pronunciation

• UK IPA: /ˈtɹəˌvÉ™(ɹ)s/

Origin

From Latin trans across + versus turned, perfect passive participle of vertere, turn

Full definition of traverse

Noun

1. (climbing) A route used in mountaineering, specifically rock climbing, in which the descent occurs by a different route than the ascent.
2. (military) In fortification, a mass of earth or other material employed to protect troops against enfilade. It is constructed at right angles to the parapet.
3. (surveying) 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.
4. (obsolete) A screen or partition.
• 1499, John Skelton, The Bowge of Court: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 ...
• F. BeaumontAt the entrance of the king,
  The first traverse was drawn.
5. Something that thwarts or obstructs.He would have succeeded, had it not been for unlucky traverses not under his control.
6. A trick; a subterfuge.
7. (architecture) A gallery or loft of communication from side to side of a church or other large building.
8. (legal) 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).
9. (nautical) The zigzag course or courses made by a ship in passing from one place to another; a compound course.
10. (geometry) A line lying across a figure or other lines; a transversal.
11. (firearms) The turning of a gun so as to make it point in any desired direction.

Related terms

• traversal

Verb

1. (transitive) To travel across, often under difficult conditions.He will have to traverse the mountain to get to the other side.
• Alexander Popewhat seas you traversed, and what fields you fought
2. (transitive, computing) To visit all parts of; to explore thoroughly.to traverse all nodes in a network
3. (artillery) To rotate a gun around a vertical axis to bear upon a military target.to traverse a cannon
4. (climbing) To climb or descend a steep hill at a wide angle.
5. To lay in a cross direction; to cross.
• DrydenThe parts should be often traversed, or crossed, by the flowing of the folds.
6. To cross by way of opposition; to thwart with obstacles; to obstruct.
• Sir Walter ScottI cannot but ... admit the force of this reasoning, which I yet hope to traverse.
7. To pass over and view; to survey carefully.
• SouthMy purpose is to traverse the nature, principles, and properties of this detestable vice — ingratitude.
8. (carpentry) To plane in a direction across the grain of the wood.to traverse a board
9. (legal) To deny formally.
• DrydenAnd save the expense of long litigious laws,
  Where suits are traversed, and so little won
  That he who conquers is but last undone.

Adverb

1. athwart; across; crosswise

Adjective

1. Lying across; being in a direction across something else.paths cut with traverse trenches
• Sir H. WottonOak ... being strong in all positions, may be better trusted in cross and traverse work.
• Haywardthe ridges of the fallow field traverse

Derived terms

• traverse drill

Anagrams

• averters