yaw 1
/yaw/ , v.i.
1. to deviate temporarily from a straight course, as a ship.
2. (of an aircraft) to have a motion about its vertical axis.
3. (of a rocket or guided missile) to deviate from a stable flight attitude by oscillation of the longitudinal axis in the horizontal plane.
v.t.
4. to cause to yaw.
n.
5. a movement of deviation from a direct course, as of a ship.
6. a motion of an aircraft about its vertical axis.
7. an angle, to the right or left, determined by the direction of motion of an aircraft or spacecraft and its vertical and longitudinal plane of symmetry.
8. (of a rocket or guided missile)
a. the act of yawing.
b. the angular displacement of the longitudinal axis due to yawing.
[ 1540-50; orig. uncert. ]
yaw 2
/yaw/ , n. Pathol.
one of the lesions of yaws.
[ 1735-45; back formation from YAWS ]