navigate
[nav-i-geyt]
- to move on, over, or through (water, air, or land) in a ship or aircraft: to navigate a river.
- to direct or manage (a ship, aircraft, or guided missile) on its course.
- to ascertain or plot and control the course or position of (a ship, aircraft, etc.).
- to pass over (the sea or other body of water), as a ship does.
- to walk or find one's way on, in, or across: It was difficult to navigate the stairs in the dark.
- to move or progress through in a logical sequence: Headings and subheadings make it easier to navigate a long article.
- Computers. to move from one part to another of (a website, document, etc.), especially by using the links: Their site is uncluttered and easy to navigate.
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- to direct or manage a ship, aircraft, or guided missile on its course.
- to pass over the water, as a ship does.
- to walk or find one's way.
- to travel by ship or boat; sail.
- to move or progress through something in a logical sequence: We’re navigating through a maze of environmental legislation.
- Computers. to move from one part to another of a website, document, etc.
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Origin of navigate
1580–90; < Latin nāvigātus, past participle of nāvigāre to sail, derivative of nāvis ship; for formation, see fumigate
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for navigate
Contemporary Examples
On the show, we had to find a way to navigate that in a sensitive way.
Natalie Dormer Talks ‘Hunger Games,’ Feminism, and Why ‘Game of Thrones’ Needs More DickMarlow Stern
November 21, 2014
You navigate from scene to scene in an intimately small group.
New York’s Scariest Night Out: The Ghosts, Rats, and Lunatics of ‘Nightmare New York’Justin Jones
October 4, 2014
And of the fact that we were able to navigate the film that dropped in the middle of the first season.
It takes just as long to fly to Miami, he ponders, as it does to navigate the horrendous traffic on the Long Island Expressway.
The Hell of the Hamptons: Why the Exclusive Hotspot Is a Mind-Numbing DragRobert Gold
August 18, 2014
The family sent a trusted Arab driver who could navigate the ISIS checkpoints.
Historical Examples
I ain't so much of a wreck yet but that I can navigate Boston without a pilot.
Mary-'GustaJoseph C. Lincoln
It was a misty, black night, and Trumet sidewalks were uneven and hard to navigate.
Keziah CoffinJoseph C. Lincoln
Will you pledge me your honour, if I release you upon parole, that you will navigate us thither?
Captain BloodRafael Sabatini
These are difficult seas to navigate, though they may not seem so.
But how are you going to navigate this craft home with three men?
The Frozen PirateW. Clark Russell
navigate
- to plan, direct, or plot the path or position of (a ship, an aircraft, etc)
- (tr) to travel over, through, or on (water, air, or land) in a boat, aircraft, etc
- informal to direct (oneself, one's way, etc) carefully or safelyhe navigated his way to the bar
- (intr) (of a passenger in a motor vehicle) to give directions to the driver; point out the route
- (intr) rare to voyage in a ship; sail
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Word Origin
C16: from Latin nāvigāre to sail, from nāvis ship + agere to drive
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for navigate
v.
1580s, a back-formation from navigation, or else from Latin navigatus, past participle of navigare. Extended to balloons (1784) and later to aircraft (1901). Related: Navigated; navigating.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper