tiller1
/ˈtɪlə
/noun
A horizontal bar fitted to the head of a boat’s rudder post and used for steering.To minimize maintenance, the only wood used in the entire boat is the tiller and the only opening to the area below deck is the companionway....
- There's the main sheet (the rope which controls the main sail), the tiller (the steering stick), the jib (the front sail) and a lot more coloured rope.
- A firm hand at the tiller and the boat sails fair.
Origin
Late Middle English: from Anglo-Norman French telier 'weaver's beam, stock of a crossbow', from medieval Latin telarium, from Latin tela 'web'.
Rhymes
tiller2
/ˈtɪlə/noun
An implement or machine for breaking up soil; a plough or cultivator.If your garden is large, a rotary tiller or cultivator with wheels is the most practical method of removing weeds from your garden....
- If you're just starting your garden this spring, turn the top 8 to 12 inches of the soil using a rotary tiller.
- Use the low gear when operating a heavy tiller in loose soil or on a slope.
tiller3
/ˈtɪlə/noun
A lateral shoot from the base of the stem of a plant, especially in a grass or cereal.Three similar branches, shoots or tillers per plant were selected for the three treatments....
- The tip height above the soil surface of elongating leaves, number of leaves on the main tiller and number of tillers per plant were observed every other day.
- The number of leaves, tillers and plant length was initially recorded upon marking and was periodically recorded after that for a total of 3-5 observations per plant.
verb [no object] (usually as noun tillering)
(Of a plant) develop tillers: tight grass management encourages tillering...
- Top stemmy swards and apply nitrogen to promote tillering.
- Under non-limiting growth conditions, tillering continues for an indefinite time with uneven maturation as a result (not shown here).
- Even though a thin wheat stand will tiller in the spring and fill in, a heavier plant density is less attractive to chinch bugs when they move into wheat in early April.
Origin
Mid 17th century (denoting a sapling arising from the stool of a felled tree): apparently based on Old English telga 'bough', of Germanic origin.
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