traverse
noun · verb · adverb · adjective
Simple meaning
Something that thwarts or obstructs.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
truhvursSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
tɹəˈvɜːs
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
Something that thwarts or obstructs.
“He will succeed, as long as there are no unlucky traverses not under his control.”
climbing
A route used in mountaineering, specifically rock climbing, in which the descent occurs by a different route than the ascent.
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.
verb
To travel across, often under difficult conditions.
“He will have to traverse the mountain to get to the other side.”
To lay in a cross direction; to cross.
To act against; to thwart or obstruct.
To pass over and view; to survey carefully.
To visit all parts of; to explore thoroughly.
“To traverse all nodes in a network.”
To use the motions of opposition or counteraction.
adverb
Athwart; across; crosswise
adjective
Lying across; being in a direction across something else.
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Something that thwarts or obstructs.
Used this way, traverse is a common word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
“He will succeed, as long as there are no unlucky traverses not under his control.”
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
How It’s Used
The word’s distinct uses, one example each.
Thwartsnoun
“He will succeed, as long as there are no unlucky traverses not under his control.”
Travelverb
“He will have to traverse the mountain to get to the other side.”
Visitverb
“To traverse all nodes in a network.”
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Words can change meaning depending on context.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API (CC BY-SA 3.0). Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.