steady hand on the tiller
steady hand on the tiller noun: reliable, composed control (of an organization or situation).
Noun
steady hand on the tiller (usually uncountable, plural steady hands on the tiller or steady hands on the tillers)
- Reliable, composed control (of an organization or situation).
- The new president of the Varityper division of the financially troubled AM International, Joseph A. Verderber, knows that he has his work cut out for him. . . . "My challenge in a ship that big is to make certain that it has a good steady hand on the tiller."1982 January 25, Leonard Sloane, “Business People: Challenge at Varityper”, in New York Times, retrieved 06 Feb 2018
- "My hero," McCain declared, is Theodore Roosevelt, who said, "Walk softly, and carry a big stick." . . . McCain was left with this: "When times are tough, we need a steady hand on the tiller."2008 October 8, David Von Drehle, “Obama Plays Ball Control in Second Debate”, in Time, retrieved 06 Feb 2018
- A person exhibiting such control.
- [T]heir expressions of confidence in the new Bush administration were likely heartfelt — officials around the world reminisced enthusiastically about the scion of a president best remembered as a sober and steady hand on the tiller of foreign policy.2000 December 14, Tony Karon, “How the World Sees President Bush”, in Time, retrieved 06 Feb 2018
- In his time, the veteran director Mike Newell has tackled a remarkably wide range of film genres. . . .[H]e was the steady hand on the tiller of the phenomenal Four Weddings and a Funeral, a deceptively effortless-looking romantic comedy which, lest we forget, did not direct itself.2005 October 28, David Gritten, “I was so fearful of breaking the spell”, in Telegraph, UK, retrieved 06 Feb 2018
Examples of steady hand on the tiller in a sentence
- The share register remains skewed but the current shareholders are likely to have learned from the mistakes of the past and, it is to be hoped, will provide a steady hand on the tiller."2009 July 16, Julia Kollewe, “Currency trader Joe Lewis takes seat on board of Mitchells & Butlers”, in Guardian, UK, retrieved 06 Feb 2018:
- For six years Prime Minister Stephen Harper has promoted himself as a “steady hand on the tiller” to steer the nation through turbulent economic waters.2014 August 5, Carol Goar, “How to survive a slow-growth recovery”, in The Star, Canada, retrieved 06 Feb 2018:
Synonyms of steady hand on the tiller
Forms of steady hand on the tiller
| plural | steady hands on the tiller |
|---|---|
| plural | steady hands on the tillers |
Questions about steady hand on the tiller
- What does steady hand on the tiller mean?
- Steady hand on the tiller means reliable, composed control (of an organization or situation).
- How do you use steady hand on the tiller in a sentence?
- The share register remains skewed but the current shareholders are likely to have learned from the mistakes of the past and, it is to be hoped, will provide a steady hand on the tiller."
- What part of speech is steady hand on the tiller?
- Steady hand on the tiller is a noun.
- What is the plural of steady hand on the tiller?
- The plural of steady hand on the tiller is steady hands on the tiller.
Words near steady hand on the tiller in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: steady hand on the tiller (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-au-steady hand on the tiller.ogg.
Cite this entry: “steady hand on the tiller.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/steady_hand_on_the_tiller. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.