Library / English Dictionary

HELM

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

(figurative) a position of leadership

Example:

the President is at the helm of the Ship of State

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("helm" is a kind of...):

leadership; leading (the activity of leading)

Domain usage:

figure; figure of speech; image; trope (language used in a figurative or nonliteral sense)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Steering mechanism for a vessel; a mechanical device by which a vessel is steered

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("helm" is a kind of...):

steering mechanism; steering system (a mechanism by which something is steered (especially a motor vehicle))

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "helm"):

wheel (a circular helm to control the rudder of a vessel)

Holonyms ("helm" is a part of...):

motorboat; powerboat (a boat propelled by an internal-combustion engine)

sailing ship; sailing vessel (a vessel that is powered by the wind; often having several masts)

ship (a vessel that carries passengers or freight)

towboat; tower; tug; tugboat (a powerful small boat designed to pull or push larger ships)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Be at or take the helm of

Example:

helm the ship

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Hypernyms (to "helm" 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

Credits

 Context examples: 

And I put the helm hard up, and the HISPANIOLA swung round rapidly and ran stem on for the low, wooded shore.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

If you are self-employed or are at the helm of a company as CEO or a VIP manager, you are in line to reap a big harvest from last year’s work, and it may come in now or in the months to come.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

I dared not go below, I dared not leave the helm; so here all night I stayed, and in the dimness of the night I saw It—Him!

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

The man at the helm was watching the luff of the sail and whistling away gently to himself, and that was the only sound excepting the swish of the sea against the bows and around the sides of the ship.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

There was springing up a choppy wind, and I could not leave the helm.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

The searchlight followed her, and a shudder ran through all who saw her, for lashed to the helm was a corpse, with drooping head, which swung horribly to and fro at each motion of the ship.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

Then he went on: "But It is here, and I'll find It. It is in the hold, perhaps in one of those boxes. I'll unscrew them one by one and see. You work the helm."

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)