nav|i|gate

nav|i|gate «NAV uh gayt», verb, -gat|ed, -gat|ing.

–v.t.

1. a) to sail, manage, or steer (a ship, aircraft, or rocket) on a course or to a destination: »

If the captain died, the mate was in duty bound to navigate the ship to the nearest civilized port (Herman Melville).

b) to direct (anything) on a course: »

The President navigates the ship of state.

2. to sail over or on (a sea or river).

3. to convey (goods) by water.

4. to fly through (the air) in or as if in an aircraft: »

Stories of wizards and witches who navigated the upper air with the assistance of tubs d broomsticks (C. L. M. Brown).

5. Figurative. to manage to get up, over, past, or through; negotiate: »

to navigate the ramps in a garage, navigate a curving flight of stairs.

6. Figurative. to guide, steer, or make (one's way).

–v.i.

1. a) to travel by water; sail. b) (of vessels) to sail the seas; ply.

2. to direct or manage the course of a ship or aircraft; be a navigator.

3. to move, walk, or swim about: »

Turtles can navigate from one part of the ocean to another. Figurative. I can scarcely navigate today.

4. Figurative. to guide, steer, or make one's way.

╂[< Latin nāvigāre (with English -ate) < nāvis ship + agere to drive]