careen
Americanverb (used without object)
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careens,
present (3rd person singular)
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careened,
past participle, past
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careening
present participle
-
(of a vehicle) to lean, sway, or tip to one side while in motion.
The car careened around the corner.
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(of a ship) to heel over or list.
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South Midland U.S. to lean or bend away from the vertical position.
The barn was careening a little.
verb (used with object)
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careens,
present (3rd person singular)
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careened,
past participle, past
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careening
present participle
-
to cause (a ship) to lie over on a side, as for repairs or cleaning; heave down.
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to clean or repair (a ship lying on its side for the purpose).
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to cause (a ship) to heel over or list, as by the force of a beam wind.
noun
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a careening.
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Nautical. the position of a careened ship.
verb
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to sway or cause to sway dangerously over to one side
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(tr) nautical to cause (a vessel) to keel over to one side, esp in order to clean or repair its bottom
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(intr) nautical (of a vessel) to keel over to one side
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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careensimple
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careenssimple
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have careenedperfect
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has careenedperfect
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am careeningprogressive
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are careeningprogressive
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is careeningprogressive
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have been careeningperfect progressive
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has been careeningperfect progressive
Past
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careenedsimple
-
had careenedperfect
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was careeningprogressive
-
were careeningprogressive
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had been careeningperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of careen
1585–95 careen for def. 9; < Middle French carine < Latin carīna keel, nutshell; akin to Greek káryon nut
Explanation
Whether it’s an unsteady ship, a speeding bus, or a person who is woozy, use the verb careen to describe something that’s teetering from side to side. When the word careen first entered the English language in the sixteenth century, it was used to describe a beached ship that was turned on its side for repair. The word can still refer to making those kinds of nautical repairs, but now you’re more likely to hear the word used to describe something that is swaying from side to side. You may feel like a ship out of control if you careen madly through a crowd or if you careen down a steep hill on skis.
Vocabulary lists containing careen
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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.
See Examples For:
While recording in a park one evening, Jack picks up the sound of a car tire exploding before he sees the vehicle careen off the road and into a creek.
From Salon ● Jul. 4, 2026
A daunting prospect after mechanical failure caused his Lotus car to careen into barriers at 160mph in Jerez in 1990.
From BBC ● Feb. 27, 2026
When Jack, patrolling alone in a heavy rain, sees Robert’s speeding van careen off a mountain road, he takes possession of the loot, camouflages the crash site and celebrates having become an instant millionaire.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 16, 2026
This would lead to the creation of the Wacky Soap Box Racers, in which the makeshift cars would careen through painted facades of cartoon-ish animals cheering on the guests.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 22, 2025
A little after noon on that Saturday in May, the shoppers pushing their grocery carts in Heinen’s heard the fire engines wail to life and careen away, toward the duck pond.
From "Little Fires Everywhere" by Celeste Ng
As the tram careens past, a delivery man can been seen leaping to safety from his bicycle, while a passerby also races out of the way.
From Barron's ● Feb. 27, 2026
He careens down the sheet of ice at 50 miles per hour, uses one of the final turns as a launchpad, flies out of the bob run and over a ski chalet to safety.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 8, 2026
His experience, he said, has taught him how to mitigate the damage done when an opposing team member careens into you.
From BBC ● Oct. 10, 2025
While Cranston is not playing himself — although, he has on other occasions — he does strip himself of all vanity to portray Griffin Mill losing his ever-loving mind as he careens through the Venetian.
From Salon ● May 15, 2025
The pole careens sharply forward, toppling at an angle against the wall of the building.
From "Warcross" by Marie Lu
This year, somehow, I careened straight from verdant, crisp summer food — cucumber salads, crisp chicken Caesar wraps, yogurt bowls, smoothies — into the warm-orange-and-brown spectrum of winter.
From Salon ● Dec. 16, 2025
Crypto executives careened around the U.A.E. capital, dashing between a half-dozen different conferences, a “Whale Only” night at a secluded beach club, and champagne-soaked parties aboard superyachts.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 14, 2025
But inside the car, I steadily fed it power as I careened into the seemingly endless Turn 3, and felt it practically eat up asphalt through a slightly winding Turn 9.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 9, 2025
The Cybertruck careened instead into a fire hydrant, then a tree, before bursting into flames.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 24, 2025
The giant careened back into the junkyard, and his right hand fell off, landing in the scrap metal with a horrible CLANG!
From "The Titan's Curse" by Rick Riordan
About an inch long, they’re hard to miss — and are known for careening into unsuspecting bystanders.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 18, 2026
But here’s what excites me most about the brave new world of mathematics the A.I. industry has us careening toward: We will have a much sharper sense of what the truly difficult problems are.
From Slate ● Jun. 22, 2026
"I fear we are careening toward a future with fewer and fewer journalists to do the expensive, difficult work of original reporting," he said.
From Barron's ● Jun. 1, 2026
Despite the recent surge in interest, MLB is careening toward a labor meltdown that threatens to squander that goodwill.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 26, 2026
Too much rudder and Moch ran the risk of careening into the lane to his left, too little and he might get blown to his right and off the course entirely.
From "The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" by Daniel James Brown
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.
