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rudder

UK/ˈɹʌdəː/US/ˈɹʌdɚ/
nounB2+Common in everyday speech and writing · #4,229 of 15,258leans written

Other forms: rudders

A rudder is the blade at the back that turns the boat. Put the rudder over, a broken rudder, the rudder jammed.

It only works when water is flowing past it, which is why a boat with no way on cannot be steered — a stopped boat ignores the wheel entirely. An aircraft rudder controls yaw and is worked with the feet. Note that the Old English word meant an oar.

Brosen · CC BY 2.5

Definitions of rudder

  1. 1nounrudderThe blade at the back that turns a boat.B2+

    “The rudder broke in the storm, and the boat drifted helplessly.”

rudder is a steering part.

Where it comes from

Old English rothor means an oar or rudder, from a Germanic root. Row comes from the same rowing.

  1. Middle English

    rother

  2. English, today

    rudder

From Middle English rother. 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 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.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in Sea & Sailing

Practise this word

rudder in the wild

  • In basic form, a rudder is a flat plane or sheet of material attached with hinges to the craft's stern, tail, or afterend.

    Rudder

  • Balanced rudders are used by both ships and aircraft.

    Balanced rudder

  • During the 1990s, a series of issues affecting the rudder of Boeing 737 passenger aircraft resulted in multiple incidents.

    Boeing 737 rudder issues

  • In a 1994 review Richard Sherwood wrote that the "hull shape has evolved from working boats of the Chesapeake, and the rudder and spritsail rig are also traditional.

    Marsh Hen

From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.