Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Athwart

Athwart ({not transcribed}) , preposition

[Prefix a- + thwart.]

1.
Across; from side to side of.
Athwart the thicket lone. — Tennyson
2.
(Nautical) Across the direction or course of; as, a fleet standing athwart our course.
Collocations (2)
Athwart hawse , across the stem of another vessel, whether in contact or at a small distance.
Athwart ships , across the ship from side to side, or in that direction; -- opposed to fore and aft.

Athwart , adverb

1.
Across, especially in an oblique direction; sidewise; obliquely.
Sometimes athwart, sometimes he strook him straight. — Spenser
2.
Across the course; so as to thwart; perversely.
All athwart there came A post from Wales loaden with heavy news. — Shakespeare