westing

American  

[wes-ting] / ˈwɛs tɪŋ /

noun

1. Navigation. the distance due west made good on any course tending westward; westerly departure.

2. Surveying. a distance west from a north-south reference line.

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westing British  

/ ˈwɛstɪŋ /

noun

1. nautical movement, deviation, or distance covered in a westerly direction, esp as expressed in the resulting difference in longitude

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Etymology

Origin of westing

First recorded in 1620–30; west + -ing ¹

Example Sentences

West of the Rockies is out-of-bounds for U. S. fireflies�either because the mountains are too high for westing wanderers to get over, or because the Pacific Coast climate does not suit them.

From Time Magazine Archive

The sun was already westing toward evening, and the trees where they were had plunged them into a partial dude.

From "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White

But the trade picked them up again more gently, so that Karaki ventured to make westing, and they fled under skies as bright as polished brass.

From Where the Pavement Ends by Russell, John

His own courage and resolution however never failed, and he still made the best of his way to the southward, seizing every opportunity of making westing.

From Journals of Two Expeditions of Discovery in North-West and Western Australia, Volume 1 by Grey, George

Sackett announced to me that we had made no westing to speak of, on account of the ship now being in the southeasterly set of the Agullas current.

From Mr. Trunnell, Mate of the Ship "Pirate" by Hains, T. Jenkins (Thornton Jenkins)