dead reckoning

noun

1

: the determination without the aid of celestial observations of the position of a ship or aircraft from the record of the courses sailed or flown, the distance made, and the known or estimated drift

2

: guesswork

dead reckon verb

Examples of dead reckoning in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The principle is a very old and simple one called dead reckoning – a very basic skill used by tyro sailors and nuclear submarine commanders. — New Atlas, 2 Dec. 2025

But for longitude, navigators had to rely on dead reckoning that was subject to errors. — Tim Bajarin, Forbes, 28 Apr. 2021

There is also straightforward dead reckoning and inertial navigation. — The Physics Arxiv Blog, Discover Magazine, 25 Mar. 2021

The vehicle could still work out position updates using rotary encoders attached to its wheels—following a general strategy that sailors used for centuries, called dead reckoning. — Shaoshan Liu, IEEE Spectrum, 20 Feb. 2020

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1574, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for dead reckoning

• beckoning

Kids Definition

dead reckoning

noun

: calculation of the position of a ship or aircraft from the distance it has covered and the direction it has traveled without taking observations of the sun, stars, or moon