careen
careen Lexical Profile
careen Game Scores & Validity
• verb
North American To move swiftly and in an uncontrolled way while swaying or lurching from side to side.
"The runaway shopping cart began to careen down the steep parking lot ramp."
To tilt, lean, or sway to one side, especially of a ship under sail.
"The sailboat began to careen sharply as a sudden gust of wind caught its mainsail."
To turn a ship on its side in order to clean, caulk, or repair its hull below the waterline.
"During the seventeenth century, sailors would regularly careen their wooden vessels in shallow coves to scrape off barnacles."
• noun
A tilting, swaying, or lurching motion from side to side.
"With a sudden careen, the heavy wagon nearly tipped into the roadside ditch."
The act or process of turning a ship on its side for cleaning, caulking, or repairing its hull, or the state of being so turned.
"The captain ordered the vessel onto the sandy beach for a thorough careen before the long voyage."
Word Nuance & Usage
Frequently compared with "career" (to move swiftly and in an uncontrolled way). In North American English, "careen" has largely absorbed the meaning of "career" while adding a sense of swaying or tilting from side to side, whereas British English traditionally restricts "careen" to tilting a ship and uses "career" for uncontrolled forward motion.
• Rhymes for careen
Word Origin & Etymology
Borrowed in the late 16th century from French caréner (to expose a ship's keel), from Italian carenare, ultimately from Latin carina meaning "keel of a ship" or "nutshell."