steerage
Americannoun
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a part or division of a ship, formerly the part containing the steering apparatus.
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(in a passenger ship) the part or accommodations allotted to the passengers who travel at the cheapest rate.
noun
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the cheapest accommodation on a passenger ship, originally the compartments containing the steering apparatus
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an instance or the practice of steering and the effect of this on a vessel or vehicle
Etymology
Origin of steerage
First recorded in 1400–50, steerage is from the late Middle English word sterage. See steer 1, -age
Explanation
On a ship, steerage is the lower level where cargo is stored or where passengers with the very cheapest tickets are accommodated. Most senses of this noun are pretty old-fashioned today. It used to be fairly common to crowd third-class passengers into a single steerage hold for an ocean voyage, and many immigrants coming to the U.S. in the 19th and early 20th centuries traveled this way. These days steerage is only considered appropriate for luggage and goods, not humans. Another meaning, "the act of steering a ship," is mainly used in literary contexts.
Vocabulary lists containing steerage
The Devil's Arithmetic
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A Night to Remember
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Vocabulary from Readings 1, Unit 1
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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.
One of these days, you’ll meet a friend at the airport and they’ll see you enjoying your glass of champagne in first class when they’re bustling their way into steerage.
From MarketWatch • May 26, 2026
If Miranda Priestly can get thrown in steerage, we’re all screwed.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 29, 2026
We tried to fly standby on an earlier departure, but another couple jumped us on the list at the last moment, and a gate agent said it was probably because we had booked into steerage.
From Slate • Oct. 9, 2025
Most comrades sprawl shoeless, many dozing open-mouthed in the permanent state of steerage that is Soviet air travel.
From New York Times • Jul. 11, 2022
They packed their clothes and a few boatbuilding tools, used their winnings from their races to book passage in steerage to Halifax, aboard the steamship Tunisian, and set sail from Liverpool.
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.
