- the angular movement of an aircraft, missile, etc, about its vertical axis
- the deviation of a vessel from a straight course
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026
yaw1 /yɔ/USA pronunciation
v. [no object]
n. [countable]
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026- Nautical, Naval Termsto turn or move away temporarily from a straight course, as a ship, aircraft, or spacecraft:The ship yawed to starboard.
n. [countable]
- Naval Termsthe movement of yawing.
yaw1 (yô),USA pronunciation
v.i.
v.t.
n.
yaw2 (yô),USA pronunciation n. [Pathol.]
- Nautical, Naval Termsto deviate temporarily from a straight course, as a ship.
- Aeronautics(of an aircraft) to have a motion about its vertical axis.
- Rocketry(of a rocket or guided missile) to deviate from a stable flight attitude by oscillation of the longitudinal axis in the horizontal plane.
v.t.
- Nautical, Naval Termsto cause to yaw.
n.
- Nautical, Naval Termsa movement of deviation from a direct course, as of a ship.
- Aeronauticsa motion of an aircraft about its vertical axis.
- Aeronautics, Aerospacean angle, to the right or left, determined by the direction of motion of an aircraft or spacecraft and its vertical and longitudinal plane of symmetry.
- Rocketry(of a rocket or guided missile)
- the act of yawing.
- the angular displacement of the longitudinal axis due to yawing.
- origin, originally uncertain 1540–50
yaw2 (yô),USA pronunciation n. [Pathol.]
- Pathologyone of the lesions of yaws.
- back formation from yaws 1735–45
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
yaw /jɔː/ vb n
'yaw' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):