steer1
/stɪə
/verb [with object]
1Guide or control the movement of (a vehicle, vessel, or aircraft), for example by turning a wheel or operating a rudder: he steered the boat slowly towards the busy quay [no object]: he let Lily steer...
- The free swiveling nose wheel is steered by differential brakes, rudder and throttles and the aircraft is very maneuverable on the ground.
- They probably incapacitated the flight crews, then took over the controls and steered the aircraft into their targets, the experts said.
- The rudder is all what you have to steer the airplane.
Synonyms
guide, direct, manoeuvre;
navigate, pilot, drive, be in the driver's seat of, be at the wheel of;
Nautical con, helm
1.1 [no object, with adverbial of direction] (Of a vehicle, vessel, or aircraft) be guided in a specified direction: the ship steered into port...
- The driver steered into trees and bushes at the side of the road to try to slow the vehicle.
- The charioteers were crack units of specially-trained frogmen who sat astride a 30 ft-long torpedo which they steered into enemy harbours.
- After detecting objects using a front-mounted camera, the obstacle's presence is noted by the Linux-based computer, and the bike steers around it.
1.2 [with object and adverbial of direction] Follow (a course) in a specified direction: the fishermen were steering a direct course for Koepang...
- Whether you are an IT manager or a consultant responsible for advising clients, this book is a must to assist you in steering a clear course through the open source sea.
- Freely, an authority on Ottoman history, steers a clear course through these intricacies.
- As should become clear, I steer a course between condemning Forster's nostalgia and embracing it.
1.3 [with object and adverbial of direction] Guide the movement or course of: he had steered her to a chair figurative he made an attempt to steer the conversation back to Heather...
- I attempted to steer the conversation towards another course.
- Dennis Bergkamp swings in a free-kick from the left, Gilberto flicks it goalwards and it fizzes narrowly wide. Patrick Vieira lunged in an attempt to steer the ball home, but to no avail.
- After thirty minutes, she attempted to steer the conversation away from himself before she went insane.
Synonyms
guide, conduct, direct, lead, take, usher, escort, shepherd, marshal, herd
noun
1 [mass noun] The type of steering of a vehicle: some cars boast four-wheel steer...
- With the 147, the two main buts are an uncouth ride, and, of course, the familiar scourge of powerful front wheel drive cars - torque steer.
- The 306 offers 16-valves, a six-speed gearbox and passive rear-wheel steer.
- The advantages of this are: less torque steer, better traction from a standing start and increased vehicle stability.
2 informal A piece of advice or information concerning the development of a situation: the need for the NHS to be given a clear steer as to its future direction...
- The main concern will be the steer on how much energy the firm has managed to contract in advance to power suppliers.
- He said: ‘The inspector's inquiry did not give us a clear steer, one way or the other.’
- Despite the Home Office's denials, Mr Brown has previously suggested that the Guardian Group has ‘got a clear steer from somebody on the inside’.
Phrases
steer clear of
steer a middle course
Derivatives
steerable
- The engineers say that by combining three wheels in a mutually perpendicular arrangement, it should be possible to build a ball-shaped, steerable robot.
- The distal end of the sheath is either precurved or is steerable so the electrode tip can be directed to the coronary target site in the left atrium.
- A magneto-optical flying head utilizes a steerable mirror in combination with a light source and a lens to write and read data onto a magneto-optical storage disk.
Origin
Old English stīeran, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch sturen and German steuern.
Rhymes
steer2
/stɪə/noun
Another term for bullock.Beef cattle sold included steers, heifers not kept for replacements, and market bulls and cows....
- Organizers plan to slaughter fed cattle, Holstein steers and cows at the plant and produce specialty beef for Jewish and Muslim markets.
- English has cattle, cows, bulls, bullocks, heifers, steers, oxen, and a few more [and spot who has never been good on where ox ends and oxen begin].
Origin
Old English stēor, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch stier and German Stier.