binnacle

noun bin·na·cle \ ˈbi-ni-kəl \

|Updated on: 19 Jun 2018

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

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Recent Examples of binnacle from the Web

The instrument cluster — a thin, curved LCD panel — replaces the usual gauge binnacle.

— tom voelk, New York Times, "Porsche Mission E Cross Turismo Review: ‘Silence Is the New Power’," 6 June 2018
Digital screens have also replaced most of the traditional analog dials that used to live in your average Porsche instrument binnacle.

— jonathan m. gitlin, Ars Technica, "Porsche’s Panamera 4 E-Hybrid Sport Turismo is a heck of a hybrid," 16 May 2018
Instruments are tucked down deep in their binnacle, and an 8.0-inch display screen rises prominently from the dashboard above the digital climate controls.

— steve siler, Car and Driver, "2019 Toyota Corolla Hatchback: iM Just a Corolla Now," 23 Mar. 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.

Origin and Etymology of binnacle

alteration of Middle English bitakle, from Old Portuguese or Old Spanish; Old Portuguese bitácola & Old Spanish bitácula, from Latin habitaculum dwelling place, from habitare to inhabit — more at habitation

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1622

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year