rhumb
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of rhumb
1570–80; < Spanish rumbo < Latin rhombus rhombus
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.
The problem is that rhumb lines aren’t lines; they’re spirals that wind toward the North or South Pole.
From Slate • Jan. 21, 2026
The Mercator map is arguably the best for this purpose, because it straightens out spiraling rhumb lines, and that’s why it rose to dominance.
From Slate • Jan. 21, 2026
They are known for distinctive rhumb lines that radiate out from various points in the ocean in the direction of wind or compass points to help navigators plot their course.
From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 25, 2023
The wind held long enough for the boats to slip through, and a half-hour later we were sailing a rhumb line for the beach.
From New York Times • Dec. 16, 2019
On looking at our binnacle, they pointed to the north-west rhumb, and made us easily understand that it was the course they always steered on their return to Macassar.
From Narrative of a Survey of the Intertropical and Western Coasts of Australia Performed between the years 1818 and 1822 — Volume 1 by King, Phillip Parker
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.
