steerageway

[ steer-ij-wey ]

/ ˈstɪər ɪdʒˌweɪ /

noun Nautical.

sufficient speed to permit a vessel to be maneuvered.

Nearby words

steeplechasing, steeplejack, steer, steer clear of, steerage, steerageway, steerer, steerhide, steering, steering column, steering committee

Origin of steerageway

First recorded in 1710–20; steerage + way¹

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for steerageway

As the other approached, Harry shut off the power of the engines, checking them to little more than steerageway.
Boy Scouts in the North Sea|G. Harvey Ralphson
He held her nose up to the open sea, allowing her only steerageway, the gale slithering off her flattened sail.
The Skipper and the Skipped|Holman Day
There was not more than a capful of wind; but once let the canvas fill, and the schooner would get steerageway.
Sheila of Big Wreck Cove|James A. Cooper
Thus it lost headway sufficiently so that the seas caused it to drift back, without its coming about or losing all steerageway.
The Rival Campers Afloat|Ruel Perley Smith

She had no steerageway on her; and you might as well keep out of the storm.
The Corner House Girls on a Houseboat|Grace Brooks Hill

British Dictionary definitions for steerageway

steerageway

/ (ˈstɪərɪdʒˌweɪ) /

noun

nautical enough forward movement to allow a vessel to be steered

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