trav·erse / trəˈvərs/ • v. [tr.] 1. travel across or through: he traversed the forest. ∎  extend across or through: a moving catwalk that traversed a vast cavernous space. ∎  [intr.] cross a hill or mountain by means of a series of sideways movements: I often use this route, eventually traversing around the cliff. ∎  ski diagonally across (a slope), with only a slight descent. ∎ fig. consider or discuss the whole extent of (a subject): he would traverse a number of subjects and disciplines.2. [tr.] move (something) back and forth or sideways: a probe is traversed along the tunnel. ∎  turn (a large gun or other device on a pivot) to face a different direction. ∎  [intr.] (of such a gun or device) be turned in this way.3. Law deny (an allegation) in pleading. ∎ archaic oppose or thwart (a plan).• n. 1. an act of traversing something. ∎  a sideways movement, or a series of such movements, across a rock face from one line of ascent or descent to another. ∎  a place where a movement of this type is necessary: a narrow traverse made lethal by snow and ice. ∎  a movement following a diagonal course made by a skier descending a slope. ∎  a zigzag course followed by a ship because winds or currents prevent it from sailing directly toward its destination.2. a part of a structure that extends or is fixed across something. ∎  a gallery extending from side to side of a church or other building.3. a mechanism enabling a large gun to be turned to face a different direction. ∎  the sideways movement of a part in a machine.4. a single line of survey, usually plotted from compass bearings and chained or paced distances between angular points. ∎  a tract surveyed in this way.5. Mil. a pair of right-angled bends incorporated in a trench to avoid enfilading fire.6. variant spelling of travers.• adj. (of a curtain rod) allowing the curtain to be opened and closed by sliding it along the rod.DERIVATIVES: tra·vers·a·ble adj.tra·vers·al / -səl/ n.tra·vers·er n.

TRAVERSE

Incommon-law pleading, a denial of the plaintiff's assertions.

For example, a plaintiff could bring a lawsuit in order to collect money that he claimed the defendant owed him. If the defendant answered the plaintiff's claim by stating in answer that she did not fail to pay the money owed on the date it was due, this is a denial of a fact essential to the plaintiff's case. The defendant can be said to traverse the plaintiff's declaration of an outstanding debt, and her plea itself could be called a traverse.

The system of common-law pleading has been replaced throughout the United States by code pleading and by rules patterned on the system of pleading in Federal civil procedure, but lawyers still use the word traverse for a denial. In some instances, it has taken on specialized meanings for different purposes. For example, in criminal practice, a traverse is a denial of the charges in an indictment that usually has the effect of delaying a trial on the indictment until a later term of the court. A traverse jury is one that hears the claims of the plaintiff and denials of the defendant—a trial jury or petit jury. A traverse hearing may be a pretrial hearing to determine whether the court has authority to hear the case—as when the defendant denies having been properly served with the plaintiff's summons and complaint.

Traverse

TRAVERSE. A wall or other structure across the approach to a fortification or across an interior portion to cut off a part. It also meant right angles in the trace of a trench or parapet to minimize enfilade. See maps accompanying Saratoga battles.

SEE ALSO Enfilade; Fort Mercer, New Jersey; Saratoga Surrender; Saratoga, First Battle of; Saratoga, Second Battle of.

traverse.
1. Screen or barrier, usually a baffle, or to allow a passage from one part to another in privacy.

2. Transom or horizontal part of an architrave or door-frame.

3. Gallery or loft, usually screened, for communication between two apartments, e.g. across a hall.

traverse run, move, or pass across or through; act against or in opposition to. XIV. — (O)F. traverser :- late L. trāversāre, transversāre, f. transversus TRANSVERSE.
So traverse sb. something that crosses (lit. and fig.). XIV. — OF. travers and traverse, partly f. the vb., partly repr. sb. uses of n. and f. pp.