tiller
Noun · VerbOpen English WordNet
Noun (4)
- a shoot that sprouts from the base of a grassType of shoot
- someone who tills land (prepares the soil for the planting of crops)Type of farmer, granger
- lever used to turn the rudder on a boatType of leverPart of rudder
- a farm implement used to break up the surface of the soil (for aeration and weed control and conservation of moisture)Synonyms: cultivatorType of farm machineKinds harrow, extirpator, lister cultivator
What does it mean? Question 1 of today’s quiz
Webster's Dictionary (1913)
Origin: From Till, transitive verb
One who tills; a husbandman; a cultivator; a plowman.
Origin: AS. telgor a small branch. Cf. Till to cultivate.
1. Botany (a) A shoot of a plant, springing from the root or bottom of the original stalk; a sucker. (b) A sprout or young tree that springs from a root or stump.
2. A young timber tree. dialect (England) John Evelyn
To put forth new shoots from the root, or round the bottom of the original stalk; as, wheat or rye tillers; some spread plants by tillering. [Sometimes written tillow.]
Origin: From OE. tillen, tullen, to draw, pull; probably fr. AS. tyllan in fortyllan to lead astray; or cf. D. tillen to lift up. Cf. Till a drawer.
1. Nautical A lever of wood or metal fitted to the rudder head and used for turning side to side in steering. In small boats hand power is used; in large vessels, the tiller is moved by means of mechanical appliances. See Illust. of Rudder. Cf. 2d Helm, 1.
2. The stalk, or handle, of a crossbow; also, sometimes, the bow itself. obsolete
You can shoot in a tiller.— Francis, & Fletcher, John. Beaumont
3. The handle of anything. dialect (England)
4. A small drawer; a till. John Dryden
Tiller rope Nautical, a rope for turning a tiller. In a large vessel it forms the connection between the fore end of the tiller and the steering wheel.
Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), from GCIDE 0.54