binnacle

bin·na·cle | \ ˈbi-ni-kəl

How to pronounce binnacle (audio)

\

Definition of binnacle

1 : a housing for a ship's compass and a lamp

2 : a container for instruments in an automobile dashboard All but the shortest drivers find unrestricted sightlines to a hooded instrument binnacle loaded with nicely legible gauges.— Daniel Charles Ross

Examples of binnacle in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web The gold and white binnacle housed on the ship's veranda deck was originally part of the HMY Royal George, a royal yacht that served Queen Victoria. — Lauren Hubbard, Town & Country, "The Story Behind the Royal Family's Yacht, Britannia," 16 Nov. 2020 The gold and white binnacle housed on the ship's veranda deck was originally part of the HMY Royal George, a royal yacht that served Queen Victoria. — Lauren Hubbard, Town & Country, "The Story Behind the Royal Family's Yacht, Britannia," 16 Nov. 2020 The gold and white binnacle housed on the ship's veranda deck was originally part of the HMY Royal George, a royal yacht that served Queen Victoria. — Lauren Hubbard, Town & Country, "The Story Behind the Royal Family's Yacht, Britannia," 16 Nov. 2020 Ventilation and drive-mode buttons are grouped in a binnacle next to the gear selector, with other most functions controlled by the 10-inch touchscreen above. — Mike Duff, Car and Driver, "2021 Land Rover Defender 90 Puts the Defender In its Purest Form," 29 Oct. 2020 Porsche’s configurable gauge cluster can display maps and navigation instructions in its right binnacle. — Mark Phelan, Detroit Free Press, "2021 Porsche Panamera Turbo S can hit 196 mph with stunning, immediate power," 23 Sep. 2020 The only real nod to the past inside the modern-looking cabin is the binnacle atop the dash with analog gauges for boost pressure, turbo rpm, and battery voltage. — Joey Capparella, Car and Driver, "6 Cool Nissan Z Proto Details that Pay Homage to Past Zs," 16 Sep. 2020 When deployed, that binnacle lowers, ramp style, toward the ground, releasing the robot. — Alexander Stoklosa, Car and Driver, "If You Crash a Mercedes-Benz in the Future, It Could Deploy a Robot to Warn Other Drivers," 21 May 2019 Again, this remains my favorite implementation of a digital instrument display—so far only Audi seems to be thinking outside of the rectangular box to fill the entire binnacle. — Jonathan M. Gitlin, Ars Technica, "We’ve driven Audi’s first proper electric car, the 2019 e-tron SUV," 7 Dec. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'binnacle.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Keep scrolling for more

Learn More about binnacle

Dictionary Entries near binnacle

Statistics for binnacle

Last Updated

13 Dec 2020

Cite this Entry

“Binnacle.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/binnacle. Accessed 24 Jan. 2021.

WORD OF THE DAY

insouciance

Listen to the pronunciation of insouciance

See Definitions and Examples »

Get Word of the Day daily email!

Test Your Vocabulary

Slippery Words Quiz—Changing with the Times

What is an earlier meaning of nice?

Can you spell these 10 commonly misspelled words?

Anagram puzzles meet word search.