What does yawing mean?
Yawing is the present participle of yaw, meaning to turn or rotate around a vertical axis. In its best-known technical use, it describes a ship, aircraft, or other vehicle changing direction so that its front swings to one side. The word can also describe a person or animal twisting or turning the head or body restlessly from side to side. Yawing therefore suggests both controlled rotation and, in less technical contexts, an unsteady or restless movement. In engineering, the related terms yawing angle and yawing moment identify the rotation and the force or tendency producing it. The word is useful when precision matters: pitch concerns rotation around a horizontal axis, while roll concerns rotation around a forward axis. Yaw completes the standard three-axis description used for vehicles and aircraft. In ordinary speech, yawing is less common than simply turning or twisting, but it can vividly suggest being off course or unable to remain steady.
To turn or rotate about a vertical axis, especially as a ship or aircraft changes heading; also, to turn or twist restlessly from side to side.
"The ship began yawing as the current caught its stern."
In vehicle and engineering contexts, this is rotation around the vertical axis. In general use, it can describe restless side-to-side turning.
Describing something that is rotating about a vertical axis or turning restlessly from side to side.
"The captain watched the yawing vessel struggle against the wind."
This adjectival use is especially common in descriptions of ships, aircraft, and vehicles.
Yaw turns an aircraft left or right, pitch lifts or lowers it, and roll tips it onto a wing—three rotations that keep every description straight.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does yawing come from?
Yawing is the present participle of yaw, an English verb for turning about an axis or turning restlessly from side to side. The verb is attested from the early modern period, but its deeper origin is uncertain, and direct cognates are therefore difficult to establish securely. The noun yaw, denoting the rotation itself, and the participial form yawing belong to the same English word family.
Related word forms
How yawing is actually used
In technical descriptions of vehicles, yawing denotes rotation around the vertical axis and is normally understood in relation to heading. In general descriptive use, it can suggest a restless or unsteady side-to-side movement. It is more specialized and less common than simply turning or twisting.
Easily confused with yawing
Yawing means turning or rotating, whereas yawning means opening the mouth widely, often because of drowsiness or surprise.