conn
See also: Conn and Conn.
English
Alternative forms
- con
Etymology
Variant of cond, from Middle English conduen, condien, from French conduire, from Latin conducere, present active infinitive of condūcō (“lead, bring or draw together”), from con- (“with, together”) + dūcō (“lead”).
Pronunciation
- (General American) IPA(key): /kɑn/
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /kɒn/
- Homophone: con
- Rhymes: -ɒn
Noun
conn (plural conns)
- The duty of directing a ship, usually used with the verb to have or to take and accompanied by the article "the."
- The officer of the deck has the conn of the vessel; the captain took the conn when she reached the bridge.
Derived terms
- take the con
Verb
conn (third-person singular simple present conns, present participle conning, simple past and past participle conned)
- (transitive) To direct a ship; to superintend the steering of (a vessel); to watch the course of (a vessel) and direct the helmsman how to steer (especially through a channel, etc, rather than steer a compass direction).
- The pilot conned the ship safely into the harbor.
- 1724, Daniel Defoe, Roxana: The Fortunate Mistress, chapter 8
- “Ay,” says I, “you’ll allow me to steer, that is, hold the helm, but you’ll conn the ship, as they call it; that is, as at sea, a boy serves to stand at the helm, but he that gives him the orders is pilot.”
Derived terms
- conning tower
Translations
to direct a ship
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