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

West of the Rockies is out-of-bounds for U. S. fireflies�either because the mountains are too high for westing wanderers to get over, or because the Pacific Coast climate does not suit them.

From Time Magazine Archive

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

Great westing is in favour of the Congo.

From The Last Journals of David Livingstone, in Central Africa, from 1865 to His Death, Volume II (of 2), 1869-1873 Continued By A Narrative Of His Last Moments And Sufferings, Obtained From His Faithful Servants Chuma And Susi by Waller, Horace

We have made about eighty miles of westing since we got on our course, and we are now just on the longitude of the westermost point of the islands.

From Maori and Settler A Story of The New Zealand War by Henty, G. A. (George Alfred)

A portentous cloud ahead growled its thunder and discharged thin rain, while the westing sun shone clear and bright.

From To The Gold Coast for Gold, Vol. II A Personal Narrative by Burton, Richard Francis, Sir