SG Heritage Dictionary

Rudder [Noun] Webster's Dictionary 1828

1. In navigation, the instrument by which a ship is steered; that part of the helm which consists of a piece of timber, broad at the bottom, which enters the water and is attached to the stern-post by hinges, on which it turns. This timber is managed by means of the tiller or wheel.

2. That which guides or governs the course.

3. For rhyme the rudder is of verses.

4. A sieve. [Local. See Riddle.]

5. Rudder perch, a small fish with the upper part of the body brown, varied with large round spots of yellow, the belly and sides streaked with lines of white and yellow. This fish is said to follow the rudders of ships in the warm parts of the Atlantic.

Rudder [Noun] Webster's Dictionary 1913

1. A riddle or sieve.

2. The mechanical appliance by means of which a vessel is guided or steered when in motion. It is a broad and flat blade made of wood or iron, with a long shank, and is fastened in an upright position, usually by one edge, to the sternpost of the vessel in such a way that it can be turned from side to side in the water by means of a tiller, wheel, or other attachment.

3. Fig.: That which resembles a rudder as a guide or governor; that which guides or governs the course.

Rudderhead [Noun] Webster's Dictionary 1913

The upper end of the rudderpost, to which the tiller is attached.

Rudderhole [Noun] Webster's Dictionary 1913

The hole in the deck through which the rudderpost passes.

Rudderless [Adjective] Webster's Dictionary 1913

Without a rudder.

Rudderpost [Noun] Webster's Dictionary 1913

The shank of a rudder, having the blade at one end and the attachments for operating it at the other.

Rudderstock [Noun] Webster's Dictionary 1913

The main part or blade of the rudder, which is connected by hinges, or the like, with the sternpost of a vessel.