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Webster 1913 Edition

Veer

Veer

,
Verb.
I.
[
imp. & p. p.
Veered
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Veering
.]
[F.
virer
(cf. Sp.
virar
,
birar
), LL.
virare
; perhaps fr. L.
vibrare
to brandish, vibrate (cf.
Vibrate
); or cf. L.
viriae
armlets, bracelets,
viriola
a little bracelet (cf.
Ferrule
). Cf.
Environ
.]
To change direction; to turn; to shift;
as, wind
veers
to the west or north
.
“His veering gait.”
Wordsworth.
And as he leads, the following navy
veers
.
Dryden.
an ordinary community which is hostile or friendly as passion or as interest may
veer
about.
Burke.
To veer and haul
(Naut.)
,
to vary the course or direction; – said of the wind, which veers aft and hauls forward. The wind is also said to veer when it shifts with the sun.

Veer

,
Verb.
T.
To direct to a different course; to turn; to wear;
as, to
veer
, or wear, a vessel
.
To veer and haul
(Naut.)
,
to pull tight and slacken alternately.
Totten.
–
To veer away
or
To veer out
(Naut.)
,
to let out; to slacken and let run; to pay out;
as,
to veer away
the cable;
to veer out
a rope
.

Webster 1828 Edition

Veer

VEER

,
Verb.
I.
[L. vario and verto. See Ware.]
To turn; to change direction; as, the wind veers to the west or north.
And as he leads, the following navy veers.
And turn your veering heart with ev'ry gale.
To veer and haul, as wind, to alter its direction.

VEER

,
Verb.
T.
To turn; to direct to a different course.
To veer out, to suffer to run or to let out to a greater length; as, to veery out a rope.
To veer away, to let out; to slacken and let run; as, to veer away the cable. this is called also paying out the cable.
To veer and haul, to pull tight and slacken alternately.

Definition 2024

veer

veer

English

Verb

veer ‎(third-person singular simple present veers, present participle veering, simple past and past participle veered)

  1. (obsolete, nautical) To let out (a sail-line), to allow (a sheet) to run out.
    • 1596, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, volume 12:
      As when a skilfull Marriner doth reed / A storme approching, that doth perill threat, / He will not bide the daunger of such dread, / But strikes his sayles, and vereth his mainsheat, / And lends vnto it leaue the emptie ayre to beat.

Etymology 2

Borrowing from Middle French virer.

Noun

veer ‎(plural veers)

  1. A turn or swerve; an instance of veering.
Translations
to change direction - of the wind
  • Maori: kōtore

Verb

veer ‎(third-person singular simple present veers, present participle veering, simple past and past participle veered)

  1. (intransitive) To change direction or course suddenly; to swerve.
    The car slid on the ice and veered out of control.
    • (Can we date this quote?), Dryden:
      And as he leads, the following navy veers.
    • (Can we date this quote?), Burke:
      An ordinary community which is hostile or friendly as passion or as interest may veer about.
    • 2012 November 7, Matt Bai, “Winning a Second Term, Obama Will Confront Familiar Headwinds”, in New York Times:
      At this time in 2008, even as the global economy veered toward collapse, optimism about Washington ran surprisingly high.
  2. (intransitive, of the wind) To shift in a clockwise direction (if in the Northern Hemisphere, or in a counterclockwise direction if in the Southern Hemisphere).[1]
  3. (intransitive, nautical, of the wind) To shift aft.[1]
  4. (intransitive, nautical) To change direction into the wind; to wear ship.
  5. (transitive) To turn.
Antonyms
  • (of the wind, to shift clockwise): back
  • (of the wind, to shift aft): haul forward
Translations

References

  1. 1 2 Bowditch 2002

Anagrams

Afrikaans

Etymology

From Dutch veer.

Noun

veer ‎(plural vere)

  1. feather

Danish

Etymology

From Old Norse vita.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): [ˈveːɹ]

Verb

veer

  1. (dialectal, Fjolde) to know

References

  • “veer” in Anders Bjerrum and Marie Bjerrum (1974), Ordbog over Fjoldemålet, Copenhagen: Akademisk Forlag.

Dutch

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /veːr/, [vɪːr]
  • Rhymes: -eːr

Etymology 1

A contraction of veder, from Middle Dutch vedere, from Old Dutch fethara, from Proto-Germanic *feþrō, from Proto-Indo-European *péth₂r̥ ~ pth₂én- ‎(“feather, wing”), from *peth₂- ‎(“to fly”). The sense "spring" is derived from the ability of feathers to resume their shape when bent.

Cognate with Low German Fedder, German Feder, West Frisian fear, English feather, Danish fjer, Swedish fjäder.

Alternative forms

Noun

veer c ‎(plural veren, diminutive veertje n)

  1. feather
  2. spring (e.g. metallic helix which resists stress)
Synonyms
Derived terms

Verb

veer

  1. first-person singular present indicative of veren
  2. imperative of veren

Etymology 2

From Middle Dutch vere, from Old Dutch feri, from Proto-Germanic *farją.

Cognate with German Fähre.

Noun

veer n ‎(plural veren, diminutive veertje n)

  1. ferry
Synonyms
Derived terms

Anagrams

Dutch Low Saxon

Alternative forms

Etymology

Ultimately cognate to German vier.

Numeral

veer

  1. four (4)

Estonian

Etymology

From Proto-Finnic *veeri.

Noun

veer ‎(genitive [please provide], partitive [please provide])

  1. edge

Declension

This noun needs an inflection-table template.

German Low German

Etymology

Ultimately cognate to German vier, English four.

Numeral

veer

  1. (in some dialects, including Low Prussian) four (4)

See also

  • Plautdietsch: veea

Old French

Verb

veer

  1. Alternative form of veoir

Old Portuguese

Etymology

From Latin vidēre, present active infinitive of videō, from Proto-Indo-European *weyd- ‎(“to know; see”).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /βeˈeɾ/

Verb

veer

  1. to see

Descendants

  • Galician: ver
  • Portuguese: ver

Etymology

Borrowing from Middle Dutch vieren ‎(“to slacken”).

Pronunciation

  • Rhymes: -ɪə(r)

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