navigate Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. verb travel on water propelled by wind or by other means
    voyage; sail.
    • The QE2 will sail to Southampton tomorrow
  2. verb act as the navigator in a car, plane, or vessel and plan, direct, plot the path and position of the conveyance
    pilot.
    • Is anyone volunteering to navigate during the trip?
    • Who was navigating the ship during the accident?
  3. verb direct carefully and safely
    • He navigated his way to the altar

WordNet

Nav"i*gate intransitive verb
Etymology
L. navigatus, p.p. of navigare, v.t. & i.; navis ship + agere to move, direct. See Nave, and Agent.
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Navigated ; present participle & verbal noun Navigating
Definitions
  1. To joirney by water; to go in a vessel or ship; to perform the duties of a navigator; to use the waters as a highway or channel for commerce or communication; to sail.
    The Phenicians navigated to the extremities of the Western Ocean. Arbuthnot.
Nav"i*gate transitive verb
Definitions
  1. To pass over in ships; to sail over or on; as, to navigate the Atlantic.
  2. To steer, direct, or manage in sailing; to conduct (ships) upon the water by the art or skill of seamen; as, to navigate a ship.

Webster 1913