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Definition of "careen" [ca•reen]

  • To lurch or swerve while in motion. (verb-intransitive)
  • To rush headlong or carelessly; career: "He careened through foreign territories on a desperate kind of blitz” ( Anne Tyler). (verb-intransitive)
  • Nautical To lean to one side, as a ship sailing in the wind. (verb-intransitive)
  • Nautical To turn a ship on its side for cleaning, caulking, or repairing. (verb-intransitive)
  • Nautical To cause (a ship) to lean to one side; tilt. (verb-transitive)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "careen" in a sentence
  • "Users of this expression may be surprised to discover that the original meaning of to careen is to turn a vessel over on its side [...]"
  • "In American English, careen is certainly a Lost Cause, since its use in this erroneous sense is recognised in dictionaries, but for British English it may not be too late to rescue it."
  • "Given that what people mean when they say careen is defined precisely by career, it seems clear when people say careen they mean career."