navigate

verb

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nav·i·gate | \ ˈna-və-ˌgāt

navigated; navigating

Definition of navigate

intransitive verb

1 : to travel by water : sail navigated down to the mouth of the river

2 : to steer a course through a medium specifically : to operate an airplane navigate by instrument

3 : get around, move was well enough to navigate under his own power

transitive verb

1a : to sail over, on, or through able to navigate the deep ocean waters

b : to make one's way over or through : traverse … navigate the Internet via hypertext links connecting information-rich computers around the world.— Stephanie Losee

2a : to steer or manage (a boat) in sailing

b : to operate or control the course of navigate an airplane

Synonyms More Example Sentences Learn More about navigate

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Examples of navigate in a Sentence

For thousands of years, sailors navigated by the stars. How about if you drive and I navigate? I'd need a map to navigate the city. Only flat-bottomed boats can safely navigate the canal. He has learned to navigate in rough waters. The downtown area is easily navigated on foot. She has trouble navigating the stairs with her crutches. It took us 10 minutes to navigate through the parking lot to the exit. The captain navigated the ship. He has had experience navigating airplanes through storms.

Recent Examples on the Web Advertisers have navigated this shift in viewing habits, finding new ways to push their products, and viewers have similarly adjusted, constructing fresh rationales for our obsessive consumption. — Adam Wilson, Harper's magazine, "Good Bad Bad Good," 16 Sep. 2019 After Pearland forced the Cougars to punt for the fourth straight time, the Oilers navigated 58 yards in only three plays in building a 24-0 cushion. — Ted Dunnam, Houston Chronicle, "Football: Pearland cruises to 45-0 win over Cinco Ranch," 13 Sep. 2019 AP Photo/Jens Meyer Bob Marra navigated his way to the back of a dusty barn in Hamden, Connecticut, belonging to the state’s Agricultural Experiment Station. — Jan Ellen Spiegel, Quartz, "Scientists are finding that forests aren’t as good at fighting climate change as we thought," 12 Sep. 2019 Learning the ropes Western scientists working in China must navigate the country’s formidable—and opaque—research bureaucracy without knowing the rules of the game and without the language skills to learn them on their own. — Jeffrey Mervis, Science | AAAS, "When Europeans do science in China," 11 Sep. 2019 Yet at around the same time as Lohan, about a decade ago, Victoria Beckham—aka Posh Spice—was navigating the opening meanders of the same path with aplomb. — Vogue, "The Women Designers Who Changed The Way We Dress," 14 Aug. 2019 The characters on 13 Reasons Why may be navigating themselves through some troubling relationships, but IRL that couldn't be further from the truth. — Jasmine Gomez, Seventeen, "Here Are All the "13 Reasons Why" Stars' Relationship Statuses IRL," 9 Aug. 2019 A decade later, Saunders is learning to navigate life her own way. — Elizabeth Montgomery, azcentral, "Arizona Storytellers to share joys and pains of 'Adulting' at Phoenix event," 2 Aug. 2019 In his first three days at home, Hank is just learning to navigate the space and meeting family members. — Peninsula Humane Society, The Mercury News, "Critter corner: How to make Hank feel at home," 26 July 2019

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