Definition of Rudder

1. Noun. A hinged vertical airfoil mounted at the tail of an aircraft and used to make horizontal course changes.

Generic synonyms: Aerofoil, Airfoil, Control Surface, Surface
Group relationships: Vertical Tail

2. Noun. (nautical) steering mechanism consisting of a hinged vertical plate mounted at the stern of a vessel.
Category relationships: Navigation, Sailing, Seafaring
Terms within: Rudder Blade, Rudderpost, Rudderstock, Tiller
Generic synonyms: Steering Mechanism, Steering System
Group relationships: Vessel, Watercraft

Definition of Rudder

1. n. A riddle or sieve.

2. n. 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.

3. n. In an aircraft, a surface the function of which is to exert a turning moment about an axis of the craft.

Definition of Rudder

1. 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). ¹

2. 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. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Rudder

1. a vertical blade used to direct the course of a vessel [n -S]

Medical Definition of Rudder

1. Origin: OE. Rother, AS. Rother a paddle; akin to D. Roer rudder, oar, G. Ruder, OHG. Roadar, Sw. Roder, ror, Dan. Roer, ror. See Row to propel with an oar, and cf. Rother. 1. 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. 2. That which resembles a rudder as a guide or governor; that which guides or governs the course. "For rhyme the rudder is of verses." (Hudibras) Balance rudder, ropes connected with the rudder chains. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998)

Lexicographical Neighbors of Rudder

rucs
ructation
ruction
ructions
ructious
ructus
rud
rudaceous rock
rudapithecus
rudas
rudases
rudbeckia
rudbeckias
rudded
rudder (current term)
rudder authority
rudder blade
rudderfish
rudderhead
rudderheads
rudderhole
rudderholes
rudderless
rudderlessly
rudderlessness
rudderpost
rudderposts
rudders
rudderstock

Literary usage of Rudder

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. Flying Machines: Construction and Operation; a Practical Book which Shows by William James Jackman, Thomas Herbert Russell, Octave Chanute (1910)
"PUTTING ON THE rudder. Gliders as a rule have only one rudder, and this is in the rear. ... Unlike the rudder on a boat it is fixed and immovable. ..."

2. The Encyclopedia Americana: A Library of Universal Knowledge (1919)
"In sailing on a wind, the rudder is kept permanently on one side to counteract ... rudder FISH, so named from being perceived usually in the wake of ships, ..."

3. The Encyclopedia Americana: A Library of Universal Knowledge (1919)
"In sailing on a wind, the rudder is kept permanently on one side to counteract ... rudder FISH, so named from being perceived usually in the wake of ships, ..."

4. Knight's American Mechanical Dictionary: A Description of Tools, Instruments by Edward Henry Knight (1876)
"The rudder, when hung, is guarded against being unshipped by a movable piece called a ... The hole in a ship's counter for the passage of the rudder-head. ..."

5. The Annual Register, Or, A View of the History, Politics, and Literature for by Edmund Burke, Benjamin Franklin Collection (Library of Congress), John Davis Batchelder Collection (Library of Congress) (1822)
"This improvement which traverses on the stern-post, acts as a minor helm, gives additional effect to the power of the rudder by the space of the vacuum ..."

6. The Encyclopaedia Britannica: “a” Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, Literature edited by Hugh Chisholm (1911)
"But the helm (AS U Ulf, a handle) is the handle by which the rudder is worked. The tiller, which is perhaps derived from a provincial English name for the ..."

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