English Synonyms and Antonyms

vibrating, and not necessarily constant as oscillating; as, the swaying of a reed in the wind. Sway used
transitively especially applies to motions of grace or dignity; brandish denotes a threatening or hostile motion;
a monarch sways the scepter; the ruffian brandishes a club. To reel or totter always implies liability to fall;
reeling is more violent than swaying, tottering more irregular; a drunken man reels; we speak of the tottering
step of age or infancy. An extended mass which seems to lack solidity or cohesion is said to quake; as, a
quaking bog. Quaver is applied almost exclusively to tremulous sounds of the human voice. Flap, flutter, and
fluctuate refer to wave-like movements, flap generally to such as produce a sharp sound; a cock flaps his
wings; flutter applies to a less pronounced and more irregular motion; a captive bird or a feeble pulse flutters.
Compare FLUCTUATE.
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SHELTER.
Synonyms:
cover, guard, protect, shield, defend, harbor, screen, ward.
Anything is covered over which something is completely extended; a vessel is covered with a lid; the head is
covered with a hat. That which covers may also defend or protect; thus, troops interposed between some
portion of their own army and the enemy are often called a covering party. To shelter is to cover so as to
protect from injury or annoyance; as, the roof shelters from the storm; woods shelter from the heat. To defend
(L. defendere, to strike away) implies the actual, protect (L. protegere, to cover before) implies the possible
use of force or resisting power; guard implies sustained vigilance with readiness for conflict; we defend a
person or thing against actual attack; we guard or protect against possible assault or injury. A powerful person
may protect one who is weak by simply declaring himself his friend; he defends him by some form of active
championship. An inanimate object may protect, as a garment from cold; defend is used but rarely, and by
somewhat violent metaphor, in such connection. Protect is more complete than guard or defend; an object
may be faithfully guarded or bravely defended in vain, but that which is protected is secure. To shield is to
interpose something over or before that which is assailed, so as to save from harm, and has a comparatively
passive sense; one may guard another by standing armed at his side, defend him by fighting for him, or shield
him from a missile or a blow by interposing his own person. Harbor is generally used in an unfavorable
sense; confederates or sympathizers harbor a criminal; a person harbors evil thoughts or designs. See
CHERISH. Compare synonyms for HIDE; DEFENSE.
Antonyms:
betray, expel, expose, give up, refuse, reject, surrender. cast out,
Prepositions:
Shelter under a roof from the storm; in the fortress, behind or within the walls, from attack.
* * * * *
SIGN.
Synonyms and Antonyms, by James Champlin Fernald
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Synonyms:
emblem, mark, presage, symbol, token, indication, note, prognostic, symptom, type. manifestation, omen,
signal,
A sign (L. signum) is any distinctive mark by which a thing may be recognized or its presence known, and
may be intentional or accidental, natural or artificial, suggestive, descriptive, or wholly arbitrary; thus, a blush
may be a sign of shame; the footprint of an animal is a sign that it has passed; the sign of a business house
now usually declares what is done or kept within, but formerly might be an object having no connection with
the business, as "the sign of the trout;" the letters of the alphabet are signs of certain sounds. While a sign may
be involuntary, and even unconscious, a signal is always voluntary, and is usually concerted; a ship may show