The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Transverse \Trans"verse\, n.
   1. Anything that is transverse or athwart.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. (Geom.) The longer, or transverse, axis of an ellipse.
      [1913 Webster]

The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Transverse \Trans*verse"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Transversed; p.
   pr. & vb. n. Transversing.]
   To overturn; to change. [R.] --C. Leslie.
   [1913 Webster]

The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

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.
   [1913 Webster]

The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

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.
   [1913 Webster]

   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.
      [1913 Webster]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

transverse
    adj 1: 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), transverse,
           transversal, thwartwise]

Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:

62 Moby Thesaurus words for "transverse":
   across, across the grain, athwart, athwartships, bar, bend,
   bendwise, bias, biased, biaswise, catercorner, catercornered,
   contrariwise, contrawise, crisscross, cross, cross bitt,
   cross-grained, crossarm, crossbar, crosscut, crossed, crossing,
   crosspiece, crossway, crossways, crosswise, cruciate, cut across,
   decussate, diagonal, doubletree, intercross, intersect,
   kittycorner, lie across, oblique, oblique angle, oblique figure,
   oblique line, obliquely, overthwart, rhomboid, scratch comma,
   separatrix, sideways, sidewise, singletree, slant, slash, solidus,
   swingletree, thwart, thwartly, thwartways, transept, transom,
   transversal, transversely, traverse, virgule, whippletree