yaw

[ yaw ]

/ yɔ /

Save This Word!

verb (used without object)

to deviate temporarily from a straight course, as a ship.

(of an aircraft) to have a motion about its vertical axis.

(of a rocket or guided missile) to deviate from a stable flight attitude by oscillation of the longitudinal axis in the horizontal plane.

verb (used with object)

to cause to yaw.

noun

a movement of deviation from a direct course, as of a ship.

a motion of an aircraft about its vertical axis.

an angle, to the right or left, determined by the direction of motion of an aircraft or spacecraft and its vertical and longitudinal plane of symmetry.

(of a rocket or guided missile)

the act of yawing.
the angular displacement of the longitudinal axis due to yawing.

QUIZ

WILL YOU SAIL OR STUMBLE ON THESE GRAMMAR QUESTIONS?

Smoothly step over to these common grammar mistakes that trip many people up. Good luck!

Question 1 of 7

Fill in the blank: I can’t figure out _____ gave me this gift.

who

whom

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Origin of yaw

First recorded in 1540–50; origin uncertain

Other definitions for yaw (2 of 2)

yaw²

[ yaw ]

/ yɔ /

noun Pathology.

one of the lesions of yaws.

Origin of yaw

First recorded in 1735–45; back formation from yaws

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use yaw in a sentence

Our immediate business, however, was not with her, but with the big ship that was coming yawing down the wind toward us.
A Middy of the King|Harry Collingwood
A lumbering old lighter with a yawing derrick passed close aboard.
Blow The Man Down|Holman Day
Every angle joint was working—yawing open and closing with dull grindings as the vessel rolled and plunged.
Blow The Man Down|Holman Day
He speaks yawing like a jackdaw that gapes to be fed with cheese-curds.
The Mermaid Series. Edited by H. Ellis. The best plays of the old dramatists. Thomas Dekker. Edited, with an introduction and notes by Ernest Rhys.|Thomas Dekker

He immediately ran down, hoisting the French ensign, and yawing a little to show it.
How Britannia Came to Rule the Waves|W.H.G. Kingston

British Dictionary definitions for yaw

yaw

/ (jɔː) /

verb

(intr) (of an aircraft, missile, etc) to turn about its vertical axisCompare pitch 1 (def. 11), roll (def. 14)

(intr) (of a ship, etc) to deviate temporarily from a straight course

(tr) to cause (an aircraft, ship, etc) to yaw

noun

the angular movement of an aircraft, missile, etc, about its vertical axis

the deviation of a vessel from a straight course

Word Origin for yaw

C16: of unknown origin

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

yaw

Origin of yaw

Other definitions for yaw (2 of 2)

Origin of yaw

Words related to yaw

How to use yaw in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for yaw

Word Origin for yaw