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Can "way" be used as a verb?

English Language & Usage Asked by Andrei Malokostov on December 25, 2020

There are such lines in the song “Eyes of the World” (“Rainbow”, a British rock band):

Evil moves, evil ways
With his back to the wall

and later

Evil takes, evil kills
With no shame or concern

Can “Evil” be a subject in all these cases with predicates “moves”, “ways”, “takes” and “kills”? In all online dictionaries “way” is a noun, but if it is a noun, “evil ways with his back to the wall” looks very weird. Can “way” be used as a verb here?

Thank you for your answers.

2 Answers

I don't think evil in this sentence is an adjective ''evil ways With his back to the wall'' Way (even tough it's apparently rare) has a verb version. 'Evil ways with his back to the wall ' you can consider this like '' Evil leans his back to the wall. ''

Answered by Ozan Okudan on December 25, 2020

Evil moves, evil ways With his back to the wall

I would interpret that to be saying "Evil moves in evil ways with his back to the wall". "Ways" is not being used as a verb. It's describing the way evil moves. (And "Evil" is being "personified" here, hence the use of "his".)

Answered by Hot Licks on December 25, 2020

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