Rudder
noun ·Moderate ·College level
Definitions
- 1 An underwater vane used to steer a vessel. The rudder is controlled by means of a wheel, tiller or other apparatus (modern vessels can be controlled even with a joystick or an autopilot).
- 2 (nautical) steering mechanism consisting of a hinged vertical plate mounted at the stern of a vessel wordnet
- 3 A control surface on the vertical stabilizer of a fixed-wing aircraft or an autogyro. On some craft, the entire vertical stabilizer comprises the rudder. The rudder is controlled by foot-operated control pedals.
- 4 a hinged vertical airfoil mounted at the tail of an aircraft and used to make horizontal course changes wordnet
- 5 A riddle or sieve.
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- 6 That which resembles a rudder as a guide or governor; that which guides or governs the course. figuratively
"For rhyme the rudder is of verses,/With which, like ships, they steer their courses."
- 7 The tail of an otter.
"He sniffed Tarka’s hair from rudder to neck, and his nose remained at the neck. It was a strange smell, and he sniffed carefully, not wanting to touch the fur with his nostrils."
Example
More examples"Using the rudder and the jib with the wind behind it we backed up, turning the bow to the direction we wanted to go."
Etymology
From Middle English rodder, rother, ruder, from Old English rōþor (“oar, rudder”), from Proto-West Germanic *rōþr, from Proto-Germanic *rōþrą (“oar, rudder”) (compare Dutch and West Frisian roer, German Ruder), from Proto-Germanic *rōaną, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁reh₁- (“to row”) + Proto-Germanic *-þrą, *-þraz, instrumental suffix. Akin to Old English rōwan (“to row”). More at rōwan, -þor.
Related phrases
More for "rudder"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.