Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Helm
Helm
,Noun.
[OE.
helme
, AS. helma
rudder; akin to D. & G. helm
, Icel. hjālm
, and perh. to E. helve
.] 1.
(Naut.)
The apparatus by which a ship is steered, comprising rudder, tiller, wheel, etc.; – commonly used of the tiller or wheel alone.
2.
The place or office of direction or administration.
“The helm of the Commonwealth.” Melmoth.
3.
One at the place of direction or control; a steersman; hence, a guide; a director.
The
helms
o’ the State, who care for you like fathers. Shakespeare
4.
[Cf.
Helve
.] A helve.
[Obs. or Prov. Eng.]
Helm amidships
, when the tiller, rudder, and keel are in the same plane.
– Helm aport
, when the tiller is borne over to the port side of the ship.
– Helm astarboard
, when the tiller is borne to the starboard side.
– Helm alee
, Helm aweather
when the tiller is borne over to the lee or to the weather side.
– Helm hard alee
, Helm hard aport
, Helm hard astarboard
, etc., when the tiller is borne over to the extreme limit.
– Helm port
, the round hole in a vessel's counter through which the rudderstock passes.
– Helm down
, helm alee.
– Helm up
, helm aweather.
– To ease the helm
, to let the tiller come more amidships, so as to lessen the strain on the rudder.
– To feel the helm
, to obey it.
– To right the helm
, to put it amidships.
– To shift the helm
, to bear the tiller over to the corresponding position on the opposite side of the vessel.
Ham. Nav. Encyc.
Helm
,Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Helmed
; p. pr. & vb. n.
Helming
.] To steer; to guide; to direct.
[R.]
The business he hath
helmed
. Shakespeare
A wild wave . . . overbears the bark,
And him that
And him that
helms
it. Tennyson.
1.
A helmet.
[Poetic]
2.
A heavy cloud lying on the brow of a mountain.
[Prov. Eng.]
Halliwell.
Helm
,Verb.
T.
To cover or furnish with a helm or helmet.
[Perh. used only as a
past p
or art.
p
] art.
Adj.
She that
helmed
was in starke stours. Chaucer.
Webster 1828 Edition
Helm
HELM
, a termination, denotes defense; as in Sighelm, victorious defense. [See Helmet.]HELM
, n.1.
The instrument by which a ship is steered, consisting of a rudder, a tiller, and in large vessels, a wheel. [See Rudder.]2.
Station of government; the place of direction or management; as, to be at the helm in the administration.HELM
,Verb.
T.
1.
To cover with a helmet.