veer

verb

1. 1

   obsoleteTo let out (a sail-line), to allow (a sheet) to run out.

   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.

noun

1. 1

   A turn or swerve; an instance of veering.

   […] there is always a sudden, though small rise in the barometer, and a sudden drop of temperature of several degrees, sometimes as much as ten or fifteen degrees; there is also a sudden veer in the wind direction.

verb

1. 1

   To change direction or course suddenly; to swerve.

   The car slid on the ice and veered out of control.

   And as he leads, the following navy veers.

   We are in a war of a peculiar nature. It is not with an ordinary community which is hostile or friendly as passion or as interest may veer about.

   In recent years, the attitude of the railway authorities towards large-scale visits to works and sheds on the whole, has, happily, veered round from suspicion, and even point-blank opposition, to one of co-operation and ready welcome.

2. 2

   To shift in a clockwise direction (if in the Northern Hemisphere, or in a counterclockwise direction if in the Southern Hemisphere).

   1966, F. K. Hare, The Restless Atmosphere, 4th edition, Hutchinson University Library It is clear that when a front passes the observer, there must be a sudden shift in wind: in the northern hemisphere it will always veer, that is, shift in a clockwise sense.

3. 3

   To shift aft.

4. 4

   To change direction into the wind; to wear ship.

5. 5

   To turn.

noun

1. 1

   A piglet or a heifer.

   But with us veers are little pigs; and in some parishes heifers are called veers too. So you see it is not such a noble name with us, that I was going to be startled at the idea of a veer eating up my grass.

Forms

plural

veers

past tense

veered

past participle

veered

present participle

veering

third person singular

veers