Helm , v. t. To cover or furnish with a helm or helmet. [Perh. used only
as a past part. or part.
adj.]
She that helmed was in starke stours.
Chaucer.
Helm , n. [AS. See Helmet.]
1. A helmet. [Poetic]
2. A heavy cloud
lying on the brow of a mountain. [Prov. Eng.]
Halliwell.
Helm , v. t. [imp. & p. p. Helmed (?); p. pr. &
vb. n. Helming.]
To steer; to guide; to direct. [R.]
The business
he hath helmed.
Shak.
A wild wave . . . overbears the bark,
And him that helms it.
Tennyson.
Helm (?), n. [OE.
helme, AS. helma rudder; akin to D. & G. helm, Icel. hjālm, and perh. to E.
helve.]
1.
(Naut.) The apparatus by which a ship
is steered, comprising rudder,
tiller, wheel, etc.; -- commonly used of the tiller or
wheel alone.
2. The place or office of direction or administration. "The helm of the Commonwealth." Melmoth.
3. One at
the place of direction or control; a
steersman; hence, a guide; a director.
The helms o' the State, who care for
you like fathers.
Shak. 4. [Cf. Helve.] A helve. [Obs. or Prov.
Eng.]
Helm amidships, when the tiller, rudder, and keel are in the same plane. -- Helm aport, when the tiller is
borne over to the port side of the ship. -- Helm astarboard, when the tiller is
borne to the starboard side. -- Helm alee, Helm aweather, when the tiller is
borne over to the lee or to the weather side. -- Helm hard alee or hard aport, hard astarboard, etc.,
when the tiller is borne over to
the extreme limit. -- Helm port, the round hole in
a vessel's counter through which the rudderstock passes. -- Helm down, helm alee. -- Helm up, helm aweather. -- To ease the helm, to let the tiller come more amidships, so as to lessen the strain on the
rudder. -- To feel the helm, to obey it. -- To right the
helm, to put it amidships. -- To shift the helm, to bear the tiller over to the corresponding position on the opposite side of the vessel. Ham. Nav.
Encyc.
Helm (?), n. See Haulm, straw.
Hear it pronounced