Rudder

Vine's Expository Dictionary of NT Words

1: Πηδάλιον (Strong'S #4079 — Noun Neuter — pedalion — pay-dal'-ee-on )

"a rudder" (akin to pedos, "the blade of an oar"), occurs in  James 3:4 , RV, "rudder" (AV, "helm"), and  Acts 27:40 , plural, RV, "(the bands of) the rudders," AV, "the rudder (bands)." The pedalia were actually steering paddles, two of which were used as "rudders" in ancient ships.

Webster's Dictionary

(1): ( n.) The mechanical appliance by means of which a vessel is guided or steered when in motion. It is a broad and flat blade made of wood or iron, with a long shank, and is fastened in an upright position, usually by one edge, to the sternpost of the vessel in such a way that it can be turned from side to side in the water by means of a tiller, wheel, or other attachment.

(2): ( n.) A riddle or sieve.

(3): ( n.) In an aircraft, a surface the function of which is to exert a turning moment about an axis of the craft.

(4): ( n.) Fig.: That which resembles a rudder as a guide or governor; that which guides or governs the course.

King James Dictionary

RUD'DER, n. See Row. The oar was the first rudder used by man, and is still the instrument of steering certain boats.

1. In navigation, the instrument by which a ship is steered that part of the helm which consists of a piece of timber, broad at the bottom, which enters the water and is attached to the stern-post by hinges, on which it turns. This timber is managed by means of the tiller or wheel. 2. That which guides or governs the course.

For rhyme the rudder is of verses.

3. A sieve. Local. See Riddle.

Rudder perch, a small fish with the upper part of the body brown, varied with large round spots of yellow, the belly and sides streaked with lines of white and yellow. This fish is said to follow the rudders of ships in the warm parts of the Atlantic.

Holman Bible Dictionary

Sailors and NavigationShips

Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible

RUDDER . See Ships and Boats, 2 (2).

Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament

See Ship.

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

( Πηδάλιον ,  Acts 27:20, strictly A Footlet ; "helm,"  James 3:4), an oar (hence the English Paddle ) used by the ancients for steering vessels, being passed through an eye or rowlock at the stern; when at anchor they were unshipped, and secured from slipping through the rudder port by lashings ( Ζευκτήρια , "bands"). There were usually two of these rudders (hence the plural), one on each quarter of the vessel. (See Ship).