steerageway

[steer-ij-wey]

noun

Nautical.

1. sufficient speed to permit a vessel to be maneuvered.

steerageway

/ ˈstɪərɪdʒˌweɪ /

noun

1. nautical enough forward movement to allow a vessel to be steered

Word History and Origins

Origin of steerageway¹

First recorded in 1710–20; steerage + way ¹

Example Sentences

She had no steerageway on her; and you might as well keep out of the storm.

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We had been in a storm for four days, three of which the steamer had been thrown up into the wind, the machinery working slowly, just sufficient to keep steerageway on the ship.

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He closed the throttle and, careful to maintain sufficient speed for steerageway, allowed the plane to drift backward in the heavy wind until the mouth of the little harbor lay off his port quarter.

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On this day there were fewer water hazards, and the current of the enlarged river was so swift that they had little to do save to keep steerageway on the birch-bark.

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"The storm enveloped the vessel" Nat signaled for full speed ahead, as he knew he would need all the steerageway possible to take the vessel through the waves that, every moment, were becoming larger.

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