Merriam-Webster's Collegiate® Dictionary, 11th Edition
TRAVERSE
I. noun see: transverse
Date: 14th century
something that crosses or lies across, obstacle , adversity , a formal denial of a matter of fact alleged by the opposing party in a legal pleading,
4. a compartment or recess formed by a partition, curtain, or screen, a gallery or loft providing access from one side to another in a large building, a route or way across or over: as, a zigzag course of a sailing ship with contrary winds, a curving or zigzag way up a steep grade, the course followed in traversing, the act or an instance of traversing ; crossing , a protective projecting wall or bank of earth in a trench,
8. a lateral movement (as of the saddle of a lathe carriage), the lateral movement of a gun about a pivot or on a carriage to change direction of fire, a line surveyed across a plot of ground,
II. verb (traversed; traversing)
Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French traverser, from Late Latin transversare, from Latin transversus
Date: 14th century
transitive verb
1. to go against or act in opposition to ; oppose , thwart , to deny (as an allegation of fact or an indictment) formally at law,
2. to go or travel across or over, to move or pass along or through , to make a study of ; examine , to lie or extend across ; cross ,
5. to move to and fro over or along, to ascend, descend, or cross (a slope or gap) at an angle, to move (a gun) to right or left on a pivot, to make or carry out a survey of by using traverses, intransitive verb to move back and forth or from side to side, to move or turn laterally ; swivel ,
3. to climb at an angle or in a zigzag course, to ski across rather than straight down a hill, to make a survey by using traverses, traversable adjective traverser noun
III. adjective
Date: 15th century
lying across ; transverse