Library / English Dictionary

NAVIGATE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Travel on water propelled by wind or by other means

Example:

The QE2 will sail to Southampton tomorrow

Synonyms:

navigate; sail; voyage

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Hypernyms (to "navigate" is one way to...):

journey; travel (undertake a journey or trip)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "navigate"):

astrogate (navigate in space)

cruise (sail or travel about for pleasure, relaxation, or sightseeing)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s somebody PP

Derivation:

navigable (able to be sailed on or through safely)

navigation (ship traffic)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Direct carefully and safely

Example:

He navigated his way to the altar

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Hypernyms (to "navigate" is one way to...):

channelise; channelize; direct; guide; head; maneuver; manoeuver; manoeuvre; point; steer (direct the course; determine the direction of travelling)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s PP

Sense 3

Meaning:

Act as the navigator in a car, plane, or vessel and plan, direct, plot the path and position of the conveyance

Example:

Who was navigating the ship during the accident?

Synonyms:

navigate; pilot

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Hypernyms (to "navigate" is one way to...):

channelise; channelize; direct; guide; head; maneuver; manoeuver; manoeuvre; point; steer (direct the course; determine the direction of travelling)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "navigate"):

astrogate (guide in interplanetary travel)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

navigation (the guidance of ships or airplanes from place to place)

navigator (the member of an aircrew who is responsible for the aircraft's course)

navigator (the ship's officer in charge of navigation)

Credits

 Context examples: 

It would brighten my declining years to see a German cruiser navigating the Solent according to the mine-field plans which I have furnished.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Even so, he was crowded until navigating the room was a difficult task.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

From to-day a child will be able to navigate a ship. No more long-winded calculations.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

"The migration of birds is particularly fascinating because small species primarily navigate alone, at night, and at high altitudes, so people do not always see it happening."

(New insights into genetic basis of bird migration, National Science Foundation)

In our own case the excellent engines of the Esmeralda could disregard the sluggish flow of the stream, and we made as rapid progress as if we were navigating a stagnant lake.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

This drop in blood flow was accompanied by the appearance of dementia-like symptoms, including defects in the ability of HSD mice to recognize objects, navigate a maze, and properly build a nest.

(Hold the salt: gut reaction may impair the brains of mice, National Institutes of Health)

That means expending minimal amounts of energy through a reduced metabolic rate, dramatic regulation of body temperature, and navigating the world in slow motion.

(Putting the sloth in sloths: Arboreal lifestyle drives slow pace, NSF)

Human-created noise has increased steadily in recent decades and getting these first recordings allows scientists in the future to determine if the noise levels are growing and how this might affect marine animals that use sound to communicate, navigate and feed, such as whales, dolphins and fish.

(Seven miles deep, the ocean is still a noisy place, NOAA)

Glass eels then enter estuaries, where they continue their migration upstream to freshwater until later in life (up to age 50), when, as silver eels, they navigate back to the Sargasso Sea to spawn and die.

(Study uncovers magnetic memory of European glass eels, National Science Foundation)

This month will be an easier month to navigate than October turned out to be.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)