steer

Definitions  ·  Examples  ·  Pronunciations  ·  Etymologies  ·  Related  ·  Statistics  ·  Comments  · 
“
To prove his assertion, the man sang what he termed the steer's favorite, and to the surprise of every soldier present, a fine, big mottled beef walked out from among a thousand others and stood entranced over the simple song.

View all »
Definitions (44)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (9)

  1. transitive verb To guide by means of a device such as a rudder, paddle, or wheel.
  2. transitive verb To direct the course of. See Synonyms at conduct.
  3. transitive verb To maneuver (a person) into a place or course of action. See Synonyms at guide.
6 more from this dictionary »

Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (24)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (6)

Toggle WordNet definitions WordNet (5)

Toggle elsewhere links Elsewhere on the web

View all »
Examples (50)

  • If you're feeling some January angst and wondering how life has dealt you a perplexing steer, then have a look at this career history from the New York photographer and esteemed blogger, sign in to contribute to this page. —  BBC Blog Network
  • I thought I knew my pickles -- steer clear of the sweet (I just can't take the flavor), and revel in the dill, whether that be Polish-style, deli-style, or Vlasic-style. —  Slashfood
  • It's how we take care of our pets and how the steer are fed and butchered that create the un-green results. —  Mother Earth News Latest 10 Articles
  • Other benefits include reduced workload and less over-steer, along with increased vehicle stability and safety. —  Marketwire - Breaking News Releases
  • Roll rates (Spring rates + sway bar effects) determine whether the car will under-steer or over-steer. —  CarDomain Blog
More examples »
 

Tags

steer hasn't been tagged yet.

Sign up or sign in to add tags.

Stats

This word has been looked up 117 times.

stop updating
On Twitter

Photos from

flickr images

Add a related word »
Related

Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

Allen's Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

brake ·  ox ·  bull ·  buffalo ·  cow ·  cattle ·  calf ·  colt ·  axle ·  drive ·  mule ·  gear

Used in the same contextWord Family

steer:   steering ·  steered ·  steers
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (6)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (2)

  1. Middle English steren, from Old English stēran; see stā- in Indo-European roots.
  2. Middle English, from Old English stēor; see stā- in Indo-European roots.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (4)

  1. from Middle English steeren, steren, stiren, sturen, steoren, from Anglo-Saxon steóran, stiéran, sty¯ran = OFries. stiura, stiora = Middle Dutch stuyren, stueren, stieren, Dutch sturen, stieren = Middle Low German sturen, Low German stieren = Old High German stiuran, stiurran, Middle High German stiuren, stiuwern, direct, control, support, German steuern, control, steer, pilot, = Icelandic sty¯ra = Danish styre = Swedish styra, steer; cf. Gothic (Moesogothic) stiurjan, establish, confirm; partly from the noun, Anglo-Saxon steór, etc., a rudder (see steer, n.), but in part, as more particularly appears in the Gothic (Moesogothic), prob. an orig. verb, ‘establish’ (hence ‘direct,’ ‘steer’), connected with Old High German stiuri, strong, large; cf. Gothic (Moesogothic) usstiuriba, unbridled, Sanskrit sthāvara, fixed, stable, etc. The Middle English forms are partly confused with the Middle English forms of stir.
  2. from Middle English steere, stere, ster, steor, from Anglo-Saxon steór = Middle Dutch stuer, stier, Dutch stuur = Middle Low German stur, sture, Low German stūr = Old High German stiura, feminine, Middle High German stiure, stiuwer, German steuer, n., = Icelandic sty¯ri = Swedish Danish styr, a rudder, a steering-oar, prob. orig. a pole (applied to a steering-oar); cf. Icelandic staurr, a post, stake, = Greek σταυρός, a pole, stake, cross (see staurus): see steer, v., and cf. steer. Hence ult. stern.
  3. from Middle English steer, ster, steor, from Anglo-Saxon steór = Dutch stier = Old Low German stier, Middle Low German stēr = Old High German stior, Middle High German G. stier = Icelandic stjōrr = Gothic (Moesogothic) stiur, a bull, steer; also without initial s, Icelandic thjōrr = Swedish tjur = Danish tyr, a steer; cf. Latin taurus (later Italian Spanish toro = Portuguese touro = F. diminutive taureau), from Greek ταῡρος = Old Bulgarian turŭ = Bohemian Polish tur = Russian turŭ = Welsh tarw = Irish Gaelic tarbh, a bull, steer; prob. akin to Old High German stūri, stiuri, strong, Sanskrit sthūrin, a pack-horse, sthūla, great, large, powerful, sthūra, a man, sthāvara, fixed, stable, Greek σταυρός, a pole, stake, etc. (see staurus). Cf. steer, ult. from the same root; cf. also stirk, and Taurus.
  4. from steer, n.
 

Pronunciations
Record your own »
/stir/
by American Heritage

Charts
frequency chart

Bubble size: how much this word was used in a year

Bubble height: used more or less than expected, vs. all uses evenly distributed

You can expect to see this word about twice a week.

Recently looked up

agile · gynecological · opaline · core · supercritical

Recent Favorites

pygopagus · sanglant · Astacus · sweetbread · qualms

Recent Pronunciations

wub wub · merch · these grunts every eight hours · haul it off to our darkest dungeon · send for a doctor