steerageway

[ steer-ij-wey ]

nounNautical.
  1. sufficient speed to permit a vessel to be maneuvered.

Origin of steerageway

1
First recorded in 1710–20; steerage + way1

Words Nearby steerageway

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use steerageway in a sentence

  • Thus it lost headway sufficiently so that the seas caused it to drift back, without its coming about or losing all steerageway.

    The Rival Campers Afloat | Ruel Perley Smith
  • With her small area of exposed sail and with the wind buffeting her, she had halted and paid off, lacking steerageway.

    Blow The Man Down | Holman Day
  • As the other approached, Harry shut off the power of the engines, checking them to little more than steerageway.

    Boy Scouts in the North Sea | G. Harvey Ralphson
  • He held her nose up to the open sea, allowing her only steerageway, the gale slithering off her flattened sail.

  • I rigged up a sail out of the oar and the canvas spray shield, but there wa'n't wind enough to give us steerageway.

    The Depot Master | Joseph C. Lincoln

British Dictionary definitions for steerageway

steerageway

/ (ˈstɪərɪdʒˌweɪ) /


noun
  1. nautical enough forward movement to allow a vessel to be steered

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012