rudder
noun
rud·der
| \ ˈrə-dər
\
\
Definition of rudder
1
: an underwater blade that is positioned at the stern of a boat or ship and controlled by its helm and that when turned causes the vessel's head to turn in the same direction
2
: a movable auxiliary airfoil on an airplane usually attached at the rear end that serves to control direction of flight in the horizontal plane — see airplane illustration
3
: a guiding force or strategy
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Other Words from rudder
rudderless
\ ˈrə-dər-ləs
\
adjective
\
adjective
Examples of rudder in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
One of the sighted paddlers is the steersman, acting as a rudder on courses filled with the narrow, 40-foot-long boats and their lateral support floats. — Hillary Davis, Daily Pilot, "Local blind paddlers get set for world’s largest outrigger canoe race," 28 Aug. 2019 The rocks, some the size of marbles and others as big as basketballs, bumped against their boat and clogged their rudders. — Author: Katie Mettler, Anchorage Daily News, "There’s a giant volcanic rock ‘raft’ floating in the Pacific Ocean," 27 Aug. 2019 Back on deck, Thom explained how the rudder steered the boat and gave each kid a turn. — Rachel Walker, The Know, "Looking for a new way to savoring the Colorado Rockies? Try sailing," 13 Aug. 2019 The company could add a second set of cables or install a computerized system for controlling the rudder. — Natalie Kitroeff, New York Times, "The Roots of Boeing’s 737 Max Crisis: A Regulator Relaxes Its Oversight," 27 July 2019 But for the days when the seas are rough, our support system, including technology, is the rudder. — Colleen Johnson, Woman's Day, "How My Veteran Husband Copes with His War Injuries," 19 May 2019 According to Stars and Stripes, pieces of the plane’s left and right rudders were found two hours later. — Kyle Mizokami, Popular Mechanics, "The U.S. Ends Search for Missing F-35 Fighter Jet," 10 May 2019 In December 2014, 162 people died when an AirAsia Airbus A320 crashed into waters off the island of Borneo after experiencing cascading electrical and rudder-system problems. — Andrew Tangel, WSJ, "Boeing Faces Escalating Feud With Lion Air Over Plane Crash," 19 Dec. 2018 Mechanism and modding The heart of the rudder pedals is the actuation mechanism itself. — Lee Hutchinson, Ars Technica, "Thrustmaster TPR: The best flight sim pedals you can buy in a store like a normal person," 23 Sep. 2018These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'rudder.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for rudder
rudder
noun
English Language Learners Definition of rudder
: a flat, movable piece usually of wood or metal that is attached to a ship, boat, airplane, etc., and is used in steering
See the full definition for rudder in the English Language Learners Dictionary
rudder
noun
rud·der
| \ ˈrə-dər
\
\
Kids Definition of rudder
: a movable flat piece attached at the rear of a ship or aircraft for steering
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