rudder

noun

rud·der | \ ˈrə-dər

Definition of rudder

1 : an underwater blade that is positioned at the stern of a boat or ship and controlled by its helm and that when turned causes the vessel's head to turn in the same direction

2 : a movable auxiliary airfoil on an airplane usually attached at the rear end that serves to control direction of flight in the horizontal plane — see airplane illustration

3 : a guiding force or strategy

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In December 2014, 162 people died when an AirAsia Airbus A320 crashed into waters off the island of Borneo after experiencing cascading electrical and rudder-system problems. — Andrew Tangel, WSJ, "Boeing Faces Escalating Feud With Lion Air Over Plane Crash," 19 Dec. 2018 Mechanism and modding The heart of the rudder pedals is the actuation mechanism itself. — Lee Hutchinson, Ars Technica, "Thrustmaster TPR: The best flight sim pedals you can buy in a store like a normal person," 23 Sep. 2018 And during acceleration at takeoff, pilots steer left and right with rudder pedals, instead of the obvious control yoke in front of them. — Matt Day, The Seattle Times, "‘Video games’? Pilots wonder how plane thief learned to do aerial acrobatics," 13 Aug. 2018 The one-ton, barn-door-sized tail fin and rudders were simply gone. — Kyle Mizokami, Popular Mechanics, "The Time a B-52 Landed Without a Tail Fin," 1 Aug. 2017 Helge Ingstad lost control of rudder and propulsion, and the ship sailed on out of control for ten minutes. — Kyle Mizokami, Popular Mechanics, "How Confusion and Defects Led to a Norwegian Warship's Embarrassing Accident," 3 Dec. 2018 An intact 2,400-year-old rudder could help archaeologists answer more questions about the development of that technology. — Kiona N. Smith, Ars Technica, "This ancient Greek ship is the oldest intact shipwreck ever discovered," 24 Oct. 2018 Enthusiasts can add to the realism of that experience with hardware that replaces keyboards and mice with airplane-style controls such as rudder peddles or a steering-wheel-like yoke. — Matt Day, The Seattle Times, "‘Video games’? Pilots wonder how plane thief learned to do aerial acrobatics," 13 Aug. 2018 While Dell may be interested in the opportunity to continue the company’s growth outside of the private sphere, Michael Dell seems just fine with his hand staying firmly on the rudder for the foreseeable future. — Chaim Gartenberg, The Verge, "How Michael Dell played the game and saved his company from the brink," 13 Aug. 2018

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