Steer vs Veer - What's the difference?
steer | veer |
The castrated male of cattle, especially one raised for beef production.
* 1913 , (Willa Cather),
(informal) A suggestion about a course of action.
To guide the course of a vessel, vehicle, aircraft etc. (by means of a device such as a rudder, paddle, or steering wheel).
* Tennyson
To guide the course of a vessel, vehicle, aircraft etc. (by means of a device such as a rudder, paddle, or steering wheel).
To be directed and governed; to take a direction, or course; to obey the helm.
* Milton
To direct a group of animals.
To maneuver or manipulate a person or group into a place or course of action.
To direct a conversation.
To conduct oneself; to take or pursue a course of action.
(obsolete, nautical) To let out (a sail-line), to allow (a sheet) to run out.
*1596 , (Edmund Spenser), The Faerie Queene , volume 12:
*:As when a skilfull Marriner doth reed / A storme approching, that doth perill threat, / He will not bide the daunger of such dread, / But strikes his sayles, and vereth his mainsheat, / And lends vnto it leaue the emptie ayre to beat.
To change direction or course suddenly; to swerve.
* (rfdate), Dryden:
* (rfdate), Burke:
* {{quote-news, year=2012, date=November 7, author=Matt Bai, title=Winning a Second Term, Obama Will Confront Familiar Headwinds, work=New York Times
, passage=At this time in 2008, even as the global economy veered toward collapse, optimism about Washington ran surprisingly high.}}
(of the wind) To shift in a clockwise direction (if in the Northern Hemisphere, or in a counterclockwise direction if in the Southern Hemisphere).Bowditch 2002
(intransitive, nautical, of the wind) To shift aft.
(nautical) To change direction into the wind; to ship.
To turn.
Veer is a synonym of steer.
In transitive terms the difference between steer and veer
is that steer is to direct a conversation while veer is to turn.In intransitive terms the difference between steer and veer
is that steer is to be directed and governed; to take a direction, or course; to obey the helm while veer is to change direction or course suddenly; to swerve.steer
English
Etymology 1
(etyl) .Noun
(en noun)- He counted the cattle over and over. It diverted him to speculate as to how much weight each of the steers would probably put on by spring.
Synonyms
* oxHypernyms
* cattleCoordinate terms
* bull, calf, cowEtymology 2
From (etyl) stieran.Noun
(en noun)- I tried to give you the steer , but I guess I didn't get it over. Everybody knew it but you.'' (Mark Hellinger, 1939, ''The Roaring Twenties )
Verb
(en verb)- When planning the boat trip we had completely forgotten that we needed somebody to steer .
- No helmsman steers .
- I find it very difficult to steer a skateboard.
- I steered my steps homeward.
- The boat steers easily.
- Where the wind / Veers oft, as oft [a ship] so steers , and shifts her sail.
- Hume believes that principles of association steer the imagination of artists.
See also
* steering wheel * torque steerAnagrams
* English ergative verbsveer
English
Etymology 1
From (etyl) .Verb
(en verb)Etymology 2
From (etyl) virer.Verb
(en verb)- The car slid on the ice and veered out of control.
- And as he leads, the following navy veers .
- An ordinary community which is hostile or friendly as passion or as interest may veer about.
citation