Definition of sextant
: an instrument for measuring angular distances used especially in navigation to observe altitudes of celestial bodies (as in ascertaining latitude and longitude)
From the M-W Editors
Recent Examples of sextant from the Web
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Yet here was a guy in harm’s way trying to find his way in a war zone with something about as easy to use as a sextant.
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Other devices, like modern clocks, sextants for precise navigation, and much later modern computers, took their place.
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Back in 1940, partial human remains were found on Gardner near the remnants of a campfire, along with an empty sextant box and pieces of a woman's shoe.
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The sextant was, however, designed to superimpose a pair of star images, could not be used to photograph objects, and, with a field of view only 1.8° wide, would require a highly skilled operator to spot an LM at all.
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'sextant.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Illustration of sextant
Origin and Etymology of sextant
New Latin sextant-, sextans sixth part of a circle, from Latin, sixth part, from sextus sixth
SEXTANT Defined for English Language Learners
sextant
playDefinition of sextant for English Language Learners
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: an instrument used to determine the position of a ship or airplane by measuring the positions of the stars and sun
Learn More about sextant
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See words that rhyme with sextant Spanish Central: Translation of sextant Nglish: Translation of sextant for Spanish speakers Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about sextant
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