tiller

C1 Topic:Transportation

US /ˈtɪlɚ/ UK /ˈtɪlə/ See IPA manual

Freq #30319

Meanings

1

noun
a lever used to turn a boat's rudder and control its direction

She pushed the tiller to port and guided the boat around the buoy.
2

noun
a person who cultivates land

The poem honors the patient tiller who works the soil each spring.
3

noun
a machine or implement that breaks up and cultivates soil

He used a small rotary tiller to prepare the vegetable bed.
4

noun
a shoot that grows from the base of a grass or cereal plant

Each wheat plant produced several strong tillers after the rain.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a lever used to turn a... steering leverhelm

2 noun · a person who cultivates land cultivator farmer

3 noun · a machine or implement that... cultivator

4 noun · a shoot that grows from the... shoot sprout

Word family

Forms tillers

Derived forms tiller-beamtillermantillerson

Related forms rudder helm till cultivator

Etymology

The cultivator noun is till + -er. The steering noun comes from Middle English teler, a crossbow stock or tiller, through Anglo-French teiler. The plant-shoot noun descends from Old English telgor, "twig or shoot." The soil-working machine extends the agricultural verb till.

Topics

Transportation

External links

# tiller

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C1
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈtɪlɚ/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈtɪlə/
**Frequency rank:** 30319

## Meanings
1. a lever used to turn a boat's rudder and control its direction
2. a person who cultivates land
3. a machine or implement that breaks up and cultivates soil
4. a shoot that grows from the base of a grass or cereal plant

## Examples
- She pushed the tiller to port and guided the boat around the buoy.
- The poem honors the patient tiller who works the soil each spring.
- He used a small rotary tiller to prepare the vegetable bed.
- Each wheat plant produced several strong tillers after the rain.

## Synonyms
- steering lever
- cultivator
- farmer
- shoot

## Derived Forms
- tiller-beam
- tillerman
- tillerson

## Related Forms
- rudder
- helm
- till
- cultivator

## Etymology
The cultivator noun is till + -er. The steering noun comes from Middle English teler, a crossbow stock or tiller, through Anglo-French teiler. The plant-shoot noun descends from Old English telgor, "twig or shoot." The soil-working machine extends the agricultural verb till.

## Topics
- Transportation

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