navigable
Americanadjective
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deep and wide enough to provide passage to ships.
a navigable channel.
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capable of being steered or guided, as a ship, aircraft, or missile.
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Computers. designed or arranged in a way that facilitates moving from web page to web page or from one section to another on a website.
adjective
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wide, deep, or safe enough to be sailed on or through
a navigable channel
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capable of being steered or controlled
a navigable raft
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of navigable
First recorded in 1520–30; from Latin nāvigābilis, equivalent to nāvigā(re) “to sail” ( see navigate) + -bilis -ble
Explanation
If you can get your ship through, then both the ship and the waterway are navigable. If people of average intelligence could wade their way through the federal tax code without help, the IRS would be navigable. Alas. On the other hand, the New York City subway system is quite navigable, as are any of its functioning trains. If one can get through a passageway or system, it is considered navigable. Likewise, if a truck, car, boat, plane, train, or other vessel can be steered then it, too, is navigable.
Vocabulary lists containing navigable
Power Suffix: -able
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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.
On Friday, the navigable water depth at the chokepoint of Kaub near Koblenz hit the 2018 record low of 25cm, before recovering slightly on Monday.
From BBC ● Aug. 3, 2026
Even if the Strait were fully navigable immediately, he added, “it will take months for the oil supply to return to normal.”
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 18, 2026
But Warsh’s path to achieving his goals exists, and it is more navigable than the current consensus allows.
From Barron's ● May 6, 2026
DC Water violated the Clean Water Act, which prohibits discharging pollutants into navigable waters, the lawsuit in Washington, D.C.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 20, 2026
From talking with the patients I’ve gotten passably fluent in Lingala, which is spoken throughout northern Congo, in Léopoldville, and along most of the navigable rivers.
From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
