tiller

/ˈtɪlər/

/ˈtɪlə/

Other forms: tillers; tillering; tillered

The tiller is what steers a boat — specifically, the handle attached to the rudder. Tillers are generally found on smaller boats because it would take too much force to steer larger ships with hand tillers.

If you have never been on a sailboat before, it may take you a few minutes to figure out how to move the tiller to smoothly steer the boat because you might move the tiller in the opposite direction that you want the boat to go. If you want the bow of the boat to go starboard (right), for example, you need to move the tiller to the port side (left) and vice versa. Rapid back and forth movement on the tiller helps create drag and slows the boat.

Definitions of tiller

1. noun

   someone who tills land (prepares the soil for the planting of crops)
   type of:

   farmer, granger, husbandman, sodbuster

   a person who operates a farm
2. noun

   a farm implement used to break up the surface of the soil (for aeration and weed control and conservation of moisture)
   synonyms: cultivator

   types:

   harrow

   a cultivator that pulverizes or smooths the soil

   disc harrow, disk harrow

   a harrow with a series of disks set on edge at an angle

   type of:

   farm machine

   a machine used in farming
3. noun

   lever used to turn the rudder on a boat
   type of:

   lever

   a rigid bar pivoted about a fulcrum
4. noun

   a shoot that sprouts from the base of a grass
   type of:

   shoot

   a new branch
5. verb

   grow shoots in the form of stools or tillers
   synonyms: stool

   type of:

   acquire, develop, get, grow, produce

   come to have or undergo a change of (physical features and attributes)