traverse

1. travel across or through.

   he traversed the forest

2. move back and forth or sideways.

   a probe is traversed along the tunnel

3. deny (an allegation) in pleading.

   the plaintiff must assert certain facts which, if traversed, he would be put to prove

1. an act of traversing something.

   high-level walks in the Dolomites often involve steep, exposed climbs, traverses, and descents

2. a part of a structure that extends or is fixed across something.

   there were three jewels in the traverse of the cross and four in the body

3. a mechanism enabling a large gun to be turned to face a different direction.

   they had been practising firing at multiple targets, using the power traverse

4. a single line of survey, usually plotted from compass bearings and measured distances between successive points.
5. a pair of right-angled bends incorporated in a trench to avoid enfilading fire.

   he crept up and threw a grenade over the traverse

6. variant spelling of travers.

Middle English (in traverse (sense 3 of the verb)): from Old French traverser, from late Latin traversare ; the noun is from Old French travers (masculine), traverse (feminine), partly based on traverser .

1. a movement performed in dressage, in which the horse moves parallel to the side of the arena, with its shoulders carried closer to the wall than its hindquarters and its body curved towards the centre.

   try some travers

French, from pied de travers ‘foot askew’.