NAVIGATE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does navigate mean? 

• NAVIGATE (verb)
  The verb NAVIGATE has 3 senses:

1. travel on water propelled by wind or by other means

2. act as the navigator in a car, plane, or vessel and plan, direct, plot the path and position of the conveyance

3. direct carefully and safely

  Familiarity information: NAVIGATE used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• NAVIGATE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they navigate    ... he / she / it navigates   
Past simple: navigated   
Past participle: navigated   
-ing form: navigating   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Travel on water propelled by wind or by other means

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Synonyms:

navigate; sail; voyage

Context example:

The QE2 will sail to Southampton tomorrow

Hypernyms (to "navigate" is one way to...):

journey; travel (undertake a journey or trip)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "navigate"):

astrogate (navigate in space)

cruise (sail or travel about for pleasure, relaxation, or sightseeing)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s somebody PP

Derivation:

navigable (able to be sailed on or through safely)

navigation (ship traffic)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Act as the navigator in a car, plane, or vessel and plan, direct, plot the path and position of the conveyance

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Synonyms:

navigate; pilot

Context example:

Who was navigating the ship during the accident?

Hypernyms (to "navigate" is one way to...):

channelise; channelize; direct; guide; head; maneuver; manoeuver; manoeuvre; point; steer (direct the course; determine the direction of travelling)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "navigate"):

astrogate (guide in interplanetary travel)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

navigation (the guidance of ships or airplanes from place to place)

navigator (the member of an aircrew who is responsible for the aircraft's course)

navigator (the ship's officer in charge of navigation)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Direct carefully and safely

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Context example:

He navigated his way to the altar

Hypernyms (to "navigate" is one way to...):

channelise; channelize; direct; guide; head; maneuver; manoeuver; manoeuvre; point; steer (direct the course; determine the direction of travelling)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s PP

 Context examples 

Indeed, Mercury didn’t make October any easier to navigate.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

A Chinese company has unveiled a driverless bus-train hybrid that uses white lines painted on the road to navigate.

(Driverless Bus-train Hybrid Runs on Virtual Painted Tracks, VOA)

Their primary responsibilities are to assist patients that have an abnormal examination or a positive finding to navigate through the health care system.

(Patient Navigator, NCI Thesaurus)

Now of these two, the Pruth is the more easily navigated, but the Sereth is, at Fundu, joined by the Bistritza which runs up round the Borgo Pass.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

Earth's magnetic field seems steady and true — reliable enough to navigate by.

(Earth's last magnetic field reversal took far longer than once thought, National Science Foundation)

If I was sure of you all, sons of double Dutchmen, I'd have Cap'n Smollett navigate us half-way back again before I struck.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

The lovebirds navigated all environments equally well.

(Scientists discover how birds navigate crosswinds, National Science Foundation)

In a new study, scientists state that any potential landing mission may have to navigate hazardous obstacles known as 'penitentes' before touching down on Europa's surface.

(Icy Warning for Space Missions to Jupiter's Moon, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

The study also demonstrates that adult regenerated central nervous system (CNS) axons are capable of navigating to correct targets in the brain.

(Visual activity regenerates neural connections between eye and brain, NIH)

The question of how seals navigate is more than academic.

(Antarctic seals may use Earth's magnetic field to navigate while hunting, NSF)