TILLER

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does tiller mean? 

• TILLER (noun)
  The noun TILLER has 4 senses:

1. a shoot that sprouts from the base of a grass

2. someone who tills land (prepares the soil for the planting of crops)

3. lever used to turn the rudder on a boat

4. a farm implement used to break up the surface of the soil (for aeration and weed control and conservation of moisture)

  Familiarity information: TILLER used as a noun is uncommon.

• TILLER (verb)
  The verb TILLER has 1 sense:

1. grow shoots in the form of stools or tillers

  Familiarity information: TILLER used as a verb is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• TILLER (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A shoot that sprouts from the base of a grass

Classified under:

Nouns denoting plants

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

shoot (a new branch)

Derivation:

tiller (grow shoots in the form of stools or tillers)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Someone who tills land (prepares the soil for the planting of crops)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

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

farmer; granger; husbandman; sodbuster (a person who operates a farm)

Derivation:

till (work land as by ploughing, harrowing, and manuring, in order to make it ready for cultivation)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Lever used to turn the rudder on a boat

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

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

lever (a rigid bar pivoted about a fulcrum)

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

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

Sense 4

Meaning:

A farm implement used to break up the surface of the soil (for aeration and weed control and conservation of moisture)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

cultivator; tiller

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

farm machine (a machine used in farming)

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

harrow (a cultivator that pulverizes or smooths the soil)

Derivation:

till (work land as by ploughing, harrowing, and manuring, in order to make it ready for cultivation)

• TILLER (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they tiller    ... he / she / it tillers   
Past simple: tillered   
Past participle: tillered   
-ing form: tillering   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Grow shoots in the form of stools or tillers

Classified under:

Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care

Synonyms:

stool; tiller

Hypernyms (to "tiller" is one way to...):

acquire; develop; get; grow; produce (come to have or undergo a change of (physical features and attributes))

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Derivation:

tiller (a shoot that sprouts from the base of a grass)

 Context examples 

“Yare! yare!” screamed Goodwin Hawtayne, flinging himself upon the long pole which served as a tiller.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Then I lashed the tiller and went below to my own chest, where I got a soft silk handkerchief of my mother's.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

He conquered a mad desire to let go sheet and tiller and to clasp her in his arms.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

Already, however, the legal tongues are wagging, and one young law student is loudly asserting that the rights of the owner are already completely sacrificed, his property being held in contravention of the statutes of mortmain, since the tiller, as emblemship, if not proof, of delegated possession, is held in a dead hand.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

“And another man to the tiller,” cried the master-shipman.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I was now gaining rapidly on the schooner; I could see the brass glisten on the tiller as it banged about, and still no soul appeared upon her decks.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

His intuition told him it was the wrong thing to do, and he was glad that sheet and tiller kept his hands occupied and fended off temptation.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

“I pray you that you will order the Company to lie down,” cried Hawtayne, who had taken the tiller and was gazing ahead with a fixed eye.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

As I did so, I let go of the tiller, which sprang sharp to leeward, and I think this saved my life, for it struck Hands across the chest and stopped him, for the moment, dead.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

A puff of wind was heeling the boat over till the deck was awash, and he, one hand on tiller and the other on main-sheet, was luffing slightly, at the same time peering ahead to make out the near-lying north shore.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)