dead reckoning
Americannoun
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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.
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one's position as so calculated.
noun
Etymology
Origin of dead reckoning
First recorded in 1605–15
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Reading a family novel offers a tried-and-true method of dead reckoning with the family we didn’t choose — a means of measuring our own trajectory beside the quandaries of others navigating family dramas.
From New York Times ● Jul. 13, 2021
“We learned about dead reckoning, where they sailed by their knowledge of the stars and the currents,” explains Musker.
From Time ● Sep. 1, 2016
We headed for it by dead reckoning, legs and arms bleeding from rocks and plants.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 30, 2015
Navigating perilous domestic and foreign waters by dead reckoning, he often felt compelled to be a shameless schemer.
From US News ● Apr. 9, 2015
They used dead reckoning and followed coastlines as far as they could.
From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
