rudders

Noun

rudder (plural rudders)

1. An underwater vane used to steer a vessel. The rudder is controlled by means of a wheel, tiller or other apparatus (modern vessels can be controlled even with a joystick or an autopilot).
2. A control surface on the vertical stabilizer of a fixed-wing aircraft or an autogyro. On some craft, the entire vertical stabilizer comprises the rudder. The rudder is controlled by foot-operated control pedals.
3. A riddle or sieve.
4. (figuratively) That which resembles a rudder as a guide or governor; that which guides or governs the course.
   • For rhyme the rudder is of verses,/With which, like ships, they steer their courses.1663, Samuel Butler, Hudibras, Part I, Canto I
5. The tail of an otter.
   • He sniffed Tarka’s hair from rudder to neck, and his nose remained at the neck. It was a strange smell, and he sniffed carefully, not wanting to touch the fur with his nostrils.1927, Henry William Williamson, Tarka the Otter, Chapter 19