noun

1. A seat across a boat on which a rower may sit.

   “The fisherman sat on the aft thwart to row.”

2. A brace, perpendicular to the keel, that helps maintain the beam of a marine vessel against external water pressure and that may serve to support the rail.

   “A well-made dugout canoe rarely needs a thwart.”

3. An act of thwarting; something which thwarts; a hindrance, an obstacle.

Synonyms: thaught, thawt, thoft

verb

1. To cause to fail; to frustrate, to prevent.

   “Our plans for a picnic were thwarted by the thunderstorm.”

2. To place (something) across (another thing); to position crosswise.

3. To hinder or obstruct by placing (something) in the way of; to block, to impede, to oppose.

Synonyms: balk, foil, spoil

adjective

1. Placed or situated across something else; cross, oblique, transverse.

2. Of people: having a tendency to oppose; obstinate, perverse, stubborn.

3. Of situations or things: adverse, unfavourable, unlucky.

Synonyms: cross-grained, froward, unpropitious, untoward

adverb

1. Across the direction of travel or length of; athwart, crosswise, obliquely, transversely.

preposition

1. Across, athwart.