Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Transverse \Trans*verse"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Transversed}; p.
   pr. & vb. n. {Transversing}.]
   To overturn; to change. [R.] --C. Leslie.

Transverse \Trans*verse"\, v. t. [Pref. trans- + verse, n.
   Cf.{Transpose}.]
   To change from prose into verse, or from verse into prose.
   [Obs.] --Duke of Buckingham.

Transverse \Trans*verse"\, a. [L. transversus, p. p. of
   transvertere to turn on direct across; trans across + vertere
   to turn: cf. F. transverse. See {Verse}, and cf. {Traverse}.]
   Lying or being across, or in a crosswise direction; athwart;
   -- often opposed to {longitudinal}.

   {Transverse axis} (of an ellipse or hyperbola) (Geom.), that
      axis which passes through the foci.

   {Transverse partition} (Bot.), a partition, as of a pericarp,
      at right angles with the valves, as in the siliques of
      mustard.

Transverse \Trans"verse\, n.
   1. Anything that is transverse or athwart.

   2. (Geom.) The longer, or transverse, axis of an ellipse.

Source : WordNet®

transverse
     adj : extending or lying across; in a crosswise direction; at
           right angles to the long axis; "cross members should be
           all steel"; "from the transverse hall the stairway
           ascends gracefully"; "transversal vibrations";
           "transverse colon" [syn: {cross(a)}, {transversal}, {thwartwise}]