Other forms: tillers
A tiller is the long handle that swings the rudder. Push the tiller, hold the tiller, the tiller swung over.
It works the opposite way round from a wheel, which is what catches beginners out: push the tiller to the left and the boat turns right. Small boats keep one because it is simple and gives the helmsman a direct feel for the water.
1nountillerThe long handle that swings the rudder.
“She sat at the back of the boat with one hand on the tiller.”
tiller is a handle.
Middle English tilier meant the beam of a crossbow or a handle, from a Latin word for a weaver's beam.
Middle English
tilier
English, today
tiller
From Middle English tilier; equivalent to till + er.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA