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

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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

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 Ben Ames Williams

The gold-provinces best known to us are now three—Wásá, of which these pages treat; Akim, the hill-land, an easy journey of a week north with westing from Akra; and Gyáman, the rival of Ashanti.

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

Their only occupation was to watch the sun until, by its sinking lower in the sky, they might discover its westing.

From The Boy Slaves by Mayne Reid

“We had better go about soon, Captain Weber,” replied the mate; “there is a little westing in the gale since midnight, and the brig has lain up a couple of points.”

From The Ruined Cities of Zululand by Hugh Mulleneux Walmsley

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