dead reckoning

American  

noun

Navigation.

1. calculation of one's position on the basis of distance run on various headings since the last precisely observed position, with as accurate allowance as possible being made for wind, currents, compass errors, etc.

2. one's position as so calculated.

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dead reckoning British  

noun

1. a method of establishing one's position using the distance and direction travelled rather than astronomical observations

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Etymology

Origin of dead reckoning

First recorded in 1605–15

Example Sentences

Dead reckoning, says Joe, it won't do to go by;   But they doused all the glims, Matt, in sky     t' other night.

From John Marr and Other Poems by Melville, Herman

Dead reckoning is good for to sail for the     Deadman;   And Tom Deadlight he thinks it may reckon     near right.

From John Marr and Other Poems by Melville, Herman

Dead reckoning is of little use when the courses and distances are not correctly noted.

From Jack in the Forecastle or, Incidents in the Early Life of Hawser Martingale by Sleeper, John Sherburne

Dead reckoning was simply the compass course for direction, and for distance the mean estimate of Bartlett, Marvin, and myself as to the length of the day's march.

From The North Pole Its Discovery in 1909 under the auspices of the Peary Arctic Club by Peary, Robert E. (Robert Edwin)