NAVIGATION

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does navigation mean? 

• NAVIGATION (noun)
  The noun NAVIGATION has 3 senses:

1. the guidance of ships or airplanes from place to place

2. ship traffic

3. the work of a sailor

  Familiarity information: NAVIGATION used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• NAVIGATION (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The guidance of ships or airplanes from place to place

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

navigation; pilotage; piloting

Hypernyms ("navigation" is a kind of...):

direction; guidance; steering (the act of setting and holding a course)

Domain member category:

bear down on; bear down upon (sail towards another vessel, of a ship)

barge (transport by barge on a body of water)

raft (transport on a raft)

ferry (transport from one place to another)

ferry (transport by ferry)

ferry (travel by ferry)

wear ship (turn away from the wind)

tack; wear round (turn into the wind)

outpoint (sail closer to the wind than)

rack; scud (run before a gale)

beat (sail with much tacking or with difficulty)

sail (travel on water propelled by wind)

yacht (travel in a yacht)

steam; steamer (travel by means of steam power)

boat (ride in a boat on water)

weather (sail to the windward of)

luff; point (sail close to the wind)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "navigation"):

instrument flying (navigation of an airplane solely by instruments)

astronavigation; celestial navigation (navigating according to the positions of the stars)

dead reckoning (navigation without the aid of celestial observations)

Derivation:

navigate (act as the navigator in a car, plane, or vessel and plan, direct, plot the path and position of the conveyance)

navigational (of or relating to navigation)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Ship traffic

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Context example:

the channel will be open to navigation as soon as the ice melts

Hypernyms ("navigation" is a kind of...):

shipping; transport; transportation (the commercial enterprise of moving goods and materials)

Derivation:

navigate (travel on water propelled by wind or by other means)

navigational (of or relating to navigation)

Sense 3

Meaning:

The work of a sailor

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

navigation; sailing; seafaring

Hypernyms ("navigation" is a kind of...):

employment; work (the occupation for which you are paid)

Meronyms (parts of "navigation"):

steerage; steering (the act of steering a ship)

Domain member category:

stay ((nautical) brace consisting of a heavy rope or wire cable used as a support for a mast or spar)

stand out (steer away from shore, of ships)

sternpost ((nautical) the principal upright timber at the stern of a vessel)

fireroom; stokehold; stokehole ((nautical) chamber or compartment in which the furnaces of a ship are stoked or fired)

towing line; towing rope; towline; towrope ((nautical) a rope used in towing)

capsizing ((nautical) the event of a boat accidentally turning over in the water)

beam-ends ((nautical) at the ends of the transverse deck beams of a vessel)

bell; ship's bell ((nautical) each of the eight half-hour units of nautical time signaled by strokes of a ship's bell; eight bells signals 4:00, 8:00, or 12:00 o'clock, either a.m. or p.m.)

steerageway ((nautical) the minimum rate of motion needed for a vessel to be maneuvered)

leg ((nautical) the distance traveled by a sailing vessel on a single tack)

starboard (turn to the right, of helms or rudders)

close-hauled (having the sails trimmed for sailing as close to the wind as possible)

fore (situated at or toward the bow of a vessel)

atrip; aweigh ((of an anchor) just clear of the bottom)

rigged (fitted or equipped with necessary rigging (sails and shrouds and stays etc))

unrigged (stripped of rigging)

fore-and-aft (parallel with the keel of a boat or ship)

close to the wind (nearly opposite to the direction from which wind is coming)

escutcheon ((nautical) a plate on a ship's stern on which the name is inscribed)

spun yarn ((nautical) small stuff consisting of a lightweight rope made of several rope yarns loosely wound together)

tack; tacking ((nautical) the act of changing tack)

accommodation ladder ((nautical) a portable ladder hung over the side of a vessel to give access to small boats alongside)

becket ((nautical) a short line with an eye at one end and a knot at the other; used to secure loose items on a ship)

bilge well ((nautical) a well where seepage drains to be pumped away)

bitter end ((nautical) the inboard end of a line or cable especially the end that is wound around a bitt)

chip (a triangular wooden float attached to the end of a log line)

deadeye ((nautical) a round hardwood disk with holes and a grooved perimeter used to tighten a shroud)

jack ladder; Jacob's ladder; pilot ladder ((nautical) a hanging ladder of ropes or chains supporting wooden or metal rungs or steps)

laniard; lanyard ((nautical) a line used for extending or fastening rigging on ships)

lead line; sounding line ((nautical) plumb line for determining depth)

luff ((nautical) the forward edge of a fore-and-aft sail that is next to the mast)

overhead ((nautical) the top surface of an enclosed space on a ship)

ratlin; ratline ((nautical) a small horizontal rope between the shrouds of a sailing ship; they form a ladder for climbing aloft)

rudder ((nautical) steering mechanism consisting of a hinged vertical plate mounted at the stern of a vessel)

sea ladder; sea steps ((nautical) ladder to be lowered over a ship's side for coming aboard)

mainsheet; sheet; shroud; tack; weather sheet ((nautical) a line (rope or chain) that regulates the angle at which a sail is set in relation to the wind)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "navigation"):

cabotage (navigation in coastal waters)

Derivation:

navigational (of or relating to navigation)

 Context examples 

“Johansen, do you know anything about navigation?”

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

There it was; he would teach himself navigation.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

It was nothing less than a navigation stroke of genius.

(NASA's Juno Navigators Enable Jupiter Cyclone Discovery, NASA)

These we have loaded with all our effects, and have engaged two additional Indians to help us in the navigation.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

This allele, which encodes small inducible cytokine A27 protein, is involved in the navigation of memory T lymphocytes to cutaneous sites in inflammatory processes.

(CCL27 wt Allele, NCI Thesaurus)

After successfully carrying out a number of communications and in-flight navigation experiments, the twin MarCOs were set in position to receive transmissions during InSight's entry, descent and landing.

(NASA InSight Lander Arrives on Martian Surface, NASA)

Changing conditions on the sun and in space can affect various technologies on Earth, blocking radio communications, damaging power grids and diminishing navigation system accuracy.

(Detecting solar flares in real time, National Science Foundation)

The finding adds to our knowledge of how solar storms affect Earth and could possibly lead to improved radio communication and navigation systems for the Arctic.

(Solar Storms Can Drain Electrical Charge Above Earth, NASA)

The magnetic North Pole is currently shifting toward Siberia, forcing the Global Positioning System that underlies modern navigation to update its software sooner than expected.

(Earth's last magnetic field reversal took far longer than once thought, National Science Foundation)

The genetically-altered mice faltered on tasks requiring navigation of a maze to receive a reward.

(Schizophrenia risk gene linked to cognitive deficits in mice, National Institutes of Health)