westing

American  

[wes-ting] / ˈwɛs tɪŋ /

noun

1. Navigation. the distance due west made good on any course tending westward; westerly departure.

2. Surveying. a distance west from a north-south reference line.

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westing British  

/ ˈwɛstɪŋ /

noun

1. nautical movement, deviation, or distance covered in a westerly direction, esp as expressed in the resulting difference in longitude

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Etymology

Origin of westing

First recorded in 1620–30; west + -ing ¹

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

westing

The sun was already westing toward evening, and the trees where they were had plunged them into a partial dude.

From "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White

His own courage and resolution however never failed, and he still made the best of his way to the southward, seizing every opportunity of making westing.

From Journals of Two Expeditions of Discovery in North-West and Western Australia, Volume 1 by Grey, George

The breeze, which was off-shore, was gentle from the north-west, westing, and the sky was deep blue, with a haze hanging about, indicative of heat in the future hours.

From In the Yellow Sea by Frith, Henry

And they came to the Straits, and worked in, and made their westing day by day, while little Priss, 63 wide-eyed on the deck, watched the gaunt cliffs past whose wave-gnawed feet they stole.

From All the Brothers Were Valiant by Williams, Ben Ames

Likewise, if the ship is moving westward, an allowance must be made for the westing of the ship.

From Lectures in Navigation by Draper, Ernest Gallaudet