STEERING

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does steering mean? 

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

1. the act of guiding or showing the way

2. the act of setting and holding a course

3. the act of steering a ship

  Familiarity information: STEERING used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• STEERING (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The act of guiding or showing the way

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

guidance; steering

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

direction; management (the act of managing something)

Derivation:

steer (direct the course; determine the direction of travelling)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The act of setting and holding a course

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

direction; guidance; steering

Context example:

a new council was installed under the direction of the king

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

control (the activity of managing or exerting control over something)

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

driving (the act of controlling and steering the movement of a vehicle or animal)

aim (the action of directing something at an object)

navigation; pilotage; piloting (the guidance of ships or airplanes from place to place)

celestial guidance (a method of controlling the flight of a missile or spacecraft by reference to the positions of celestial bodies)

inertial guidance; inertial navigation (a method of controlling the flight of a missile by devices that respond to inertial forces)

command guidance (a method of controlling the flight of a missile by commands originating from the ground or from another missile)

terrestrial guidance (a method of controlling the flight of a missile by devices that respond to the strength and direction of the earth's gravitational field)

Derivation:

steer (be a guiding or motivating force or drive)

Sense 3

Meaning:

The act of steering a ship

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

steerage; steering

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

control (the activity of managing or exerting control over something)

Holonyms ("steering" is a part of...):

navigation; sailing; seafaring (the work of a sailor)

Derivation:

steer (direct the course; determine the direction of travelling)

 Context examples 

We had one violent storm, and were under a necessity of steering westward to get into the trade wind, which holds for above sixty leagues.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

And she had been steering seven hours!

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

I was steering, while he and Redruth, two fresh men, were at the oars.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

I am a new man this morning; and, as I sit here and watch him sleeping, I can do all that is necessary both as to minding the engine, steering, and keeping watch.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

He plodded on with bowed head, unobservant, mechanically rubbing nose and cheeks, and batting his steering hand against the gee-pole in the straight trail-stretches.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

Now, had not the moose come down to drink, had not Mit-sah been steering out of the course because of the snow, had not Kloo-kooch sighted the moose, and had not Grey Beaver killed it with a lucky shot from his rifle, all subsequent things would have happened differently.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

It became plain to me that nobody was steering.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

Steering I picked up easily, but running aloft to the crosstrees and swinging my whole weight by my arms when I left the ratlines and climbed still higher, was more difficult.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

The Slovak boats get up all right, by aid of a rope and steering with knowledge.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

Sometimes I would put up my sail, and then my business was only to steer, while the ladies gave me a gale with their fans; and, when they were weary, some of their pages would blow my sail forward with their breath, while I showed my art by steering starboard or larboard as I pleased.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)