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View synonyms for hold sway over

hold sway over



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Idioms and Phrases

Dominate, have a controlling influence over, as in He held sway over the entire department . This idiom uses the noun sway in the sense of “power” or “dominion,” a usage dating from the late 1500s.
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Example Sentences

These fearsome carnivores, known for their splotchy fur and cackling “laughter,” form complicated social networks in which high-ranking females hold sway over males and other, less dominant females.

“You had truly evil empires that were murdering people and enslaving them in order to hold sway over their part of the world.”

Other federal officials are looking to hold sway over the growing AI sector.

Three years on, New Zealand is seeing a growing populist movement that could hold sway over a coalition government and push to remove programs that were designed to address inequality and boost the presence of Maori.

From Reuters

"I think his staff recognises the danger that he is in right now, but they want to hold sway over the Republican party," says Anthony Scaramucci, who was Trump's communications adviser for a brief period when he was president.

From BBC

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

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hold still forhold the bag