Definition of "yaw" []

• Nautical To swerve off course momentarily or temporarily: The ship yawed as the heavy wave struck abeam. (verb-intransitive)
• To turn about the vertical axis. Used of an aircraft, spacecraft, or projectile. (verb-intransitive)
• To move unsteadily; weave. (verb-intransitive)
• To cause to yaw. (verb-transitive)
• The act of yawing. (noun)

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.

• "It keeps the nose of the plane from swinging side to side (this phenomenon is called yaw)."
• "The primary navigation laser accounts for yaw, which is what we do when we walk."
• "This tended to produce a turning movement of the entire aircraft _ known as yaw _ toward the dead engine."