Yaw

WORD OF THE DAY

 

yaw \ YAW \ verb

 

Definition

1a : (of a ship) to deviate erratically from a course (as when struck by a heavy sea); especially

1b: to move from side to side

1c : (of an airplane, spacecraft, or projectile) to turn by angular motion about the vertical axis

 

2: alternate

 

Examples

The ship yawed hard to starboard when the rogue wave hit it broadside.

"In 2002, contractors … explored the wreck using a remotely-operated submarine. They found ropes and lights from previous visits, and worked out how the big plane skipped and yawed across the water before sinking to the bottom."
— Steve Weintz, Medium.com, February 1, 2015

 

Did You Know?

In the heyday of large sailing ships, numerous nautical words appeared on the horizon, many of which have origins that have never been traced. Yaw is one such word. It began showing up in print in the 16th century, first as a noun (meaning "movement off course" or "side to side movement") and then as a verb. For more than 350 years it remained a sailing word, with occasional side trips to the figurative sense "to alternate." Then dawned the era of airplane flight in the early 20th century, and "yawing" was no longer confined to the sea. Nowadays, people who love boats still use yaw much as the sailors of old did, but pilots and astronauts also refer to the "yawing" of their crafts.