Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A vertically hinged plate of metal, fiberglass, or wood mounted at the stern of a ship or boat for directing its course.
  • noun A similar structure at the tail of an aircraft, used for effecting horizontal changes in course.
  • noun A controlling agent or influence over direction; a guide.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A riddle or sieve.
  • noun An obsolete form of rother.
  • noun That part of the helm which is abaft the stern-post, and is turned by the tiller so as to expose its side more or less to the resistance of the water and thus direct the ship's course. It is usually hinged on the stern-post by pintles and gudgeons.
  • noun That which guides or governs the course.
  • noun . A kind of paddle to stir with.
  • noun A bird's tail-feather; a rectrix: as, “rectrices, rudders, or true tail-feathers,”

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun Prov. Eng. A riddle or sieve.
  • noun (Naut.) The mechanical appliance by means of which a vessel is guided or steered when in motion. It is a broad and flat blade made of wood or iron, with a long shank, and is fastened in an upright position, usually by one edge, to the sternpost of the vessel in such a way that it can be turned from side to side in the water by means of a tiller, wheel, or other attachment.
  • noun Fig.: That which resembles a rudder as a guide or governor; that which guides or governs the course.
  • noun In an aircraft, a surface the function of which is to exert a turning moment about an axis of the craft.
  • noun (Naut.) a rudder pivoted near the middle instead of at the edge, -- common on sharpies.
  • noun (Naut.) a rudder extending below the keel so as to be more effective in steering.
  • noun (Naut.) one of the loose chains or ropes which fasten the rudder to the quarters to prevent its loss in case it gets unshipped, and for operating it in case the tiller or the wheel is broken.
  • noun (Naut.) a covering of tarred canvas used to prevent water from entering the rudderhole.
  • noun (Zoöl.) A plain greenish black American fish (Leirus perciformis); -- called also black rudder fish, logfish, and barrel fish. The name is also applied to other fishes which follow vessels.
  • noun (Naut.) ropes connected with the rudder chains.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun nautical 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).
  • noun aeronautics 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.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a hinged vertical airfoil mounted at the tail of an aircraft and used to make horizontal course changes
  • noun (nautical) steering mechanism consisting of a hinged vertical plate mounted at the stern of a vessel

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English ruder, from Old English rōther, steering oar; see erə- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Old English rōþor ("rudder"), from Proto-Germanic *rōþran (“rudder"; literally, "paddle, instrument for rowing”), from Proto-Germanic *rōanan "to row" from Proto-Indo-European *ere-, *rē- (“to row”) + Proto-Germanic *-þran, *-þraz, instrumental suffix. Akin to Old English rōwan ("to row"). More at rōwan, -þor.

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