yaw

1 of 2

noun

1
: the action of yawing
especially : a side-to-side movement
2
: the extent of the movement in yawing

yaw

2 of 2

verb

yawed; yawing; yaws

intransitive verb

1
a
of a ship : to deviate erratically from a course (as when struck by a heavy sea)
especially : to move from side to side
b
of an airplane, spacecraft, or projectile : to turn by angular motion about the vertical axis
2
: alternate
restlessly yawing between apparent extremesMartin Kasindorf

Did you know?

In the heyday of large sailing ships, numerous nautical words appeared on the horizon. Yaw is one such word. Its origin isn't exactly known, but it began turning up in print in the 16th century, first as a noun (meaning "movement off course" or "side to side movement") and then as a verb. For centuries, it remained a sailing word—often alongside pitch ("to have the front end rise and fall")—with occasional extended use as a synonym of the verb alternate. When the era of airplane flight dawned, much of the vocabulary of sailing found new life in aeronautics, and "yawing" was no longer confined to the sea. Nowadays, yaw, pitch, and roll are just as likely to be used by pilots and rocket scientists to describe the motion of their crafts.

Examples of yaw in a Sentence

Noun Sensors measure the pitch and yaw of the plane. The airplane's rudder is used to control yaw. Verb the ship yawed hard to the right when the rogue wave hit it broadside
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
Tweaking the rudder on your plane—by folding it slightly to the left or right—will affect the yaw. Jennifer Leman, Popular Mechanics, 13 July 2023 In their study, the researchers conducted four experiments to test Skywalker’s ground-trajectory tracking ability, hybrid-trajectory tracking ability, rotational ability (free yaw execution), and power efficiency. IEEE Spectrum, 26 Mar. 2023 Dabiri says in its commercial incarnation wake steering should yield even better results by adjusting turbines dynamically, based on a table of optimal yaw angles for each turbine under a range of wind conditions. IEEE Spectrum, 14 Mar. 2023 The band was clearly drawing from the Shorter book of tunes, but only as brief reference points that soon disappeared in the general pitch and yaw of a great jazz vessel traversing unpredictable currents of its own making. Jon Garelick, BostonGlobe.com, 2 Mar. 2023 These essential peripherals allow players to gain tactile control over their in-game throttle, pitch, yaw, and roll—and there's no shortage of games to use your joystick with. Harry Rabinowitz and Matt Ng, Popular Mechanics, 1 Mar. 2023 One communication dish handle will adjust pitch and the other yaw. IEEE Spectrum, 23 Jan. 2023 This allows the mount to still control the altitude angle, while the drone’s movement controls the yaw (moving left or right). Lauren Sigfusson, Discover Magazine, 1 July 2016 This firms up the suspension response and asks more of the electric motors, working together with the magnetic dampers to control yaw during cornering. Jonathan M. Gitlin, Ars Technica, 12 Mar. 2020
Verb
Atlantis would be yawed 90 degrees to Columbia, pointing at three o'clock to the older orbiter's 12 o'clock, in order to keep their vertical stabilizers from striking. Lee Hutchinson, Ars Technica, 1 Feb. 2023 The plane yawed left and right, dipped and climbed to avoid the flocks, churning my stomach like a roller coaster. Smithsonian Magazine, 10 July 2023 Combining that data with a simple wind model, the algorithm projected that yawing each of the five upstream turbines about 20 degrees to the north would maximize the group's generation from the northwest winds. IEEE Spectrum, 14 Mar. 2023 The vertical stabilizer or rudder enables sideways yawing movement (and helps counter-act such movement from crosswinds) while horizontal stabilizers help pitch the aircraft up or down. Sebastien Roblin, Popular Mechanics, 16 Feb. 2023 Air was not flowing smoothly over the F-14's wings while it was configured for landing, creating an opportunity for the plane to suddenly yaw left or right. Kyle Mizokami, Popular Mechanics, 15 Aug. 2017 A video shows the helicopter lifting off and then yawing — or twisting — to the left nearly one full rotation before rising out of view. Jesse Paul, The Denver Post, 28 Mar. 2017

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'yaw.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Noun

origin unknown

First Known Use

Noun

1546, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

1586, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Time Traveler
The first known use of yaw was in 1546

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Dictionary Entries Near yaw

Cite this Entry

“Yaw.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/yaw. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

yaw

verb
ˈyȯ
: to turn suddenly from a straight course : swerve, veer
heavy seas made the ship yaw
yaw noun

Medical Definition

yaw

noun
: one of the lesions characteristic of yaws see mother yaw

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