What is "tiller"

Tiller \Till"er\, n. [From Till, v. t.] One who tills; a husbandman; a cultivator; a plowman.

Tiller \Till"er\, n. [AS. telgor a small branch. Cf. Till to cultivate.]

1. (Bot.)

   1. A shoot of a plant, springing from the root or bottom of the original stalk; a sucker.

   2. A sprout or young tree that springs from a root or stump.

2. A young timber tree. [Prov. Eng.]
   --Evelyn.

Tiller \Till"er\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Tillered; p. pr. & vb. n. Tillering.] To put forth new shoots from the root, or round the bottom of the original stalk; as, wheat or rye tillers; some spread plants by tillering. [Sometimes written tillow.]

Tiller \Till"er\, n. [From OE. tillen, tullen, to draw, pull; probably fr. AS. tyllan in fortyllan to lead astray; or cf. D. tillen to lift up. Cf. Till a drawer.]

1. (Naut.) A lever of wood or metal fitted to the rudder head and used for turning side to side in steering. In small boats hand power is used; in large vessels, the tiller is moved by means of mechanical appliances. See Illust. of Rudder. Cf. 2d Helm, 1.

2. The stalk, or handle, of a crossbow; also, sometimes, the bow itself. [Obs.]

   You can shoot in a tiller.
   --Beau. & Fl.

3. The handle of anything. [Prov. Eng.]

4. A small drawer; a till.
   --Dryden.

   Tiller rope (Naut.), a rope for turning a tiller. In a large vessel it forms the connection between the fore end of the tiller and the steering wheel.

mid-14c., "stock of a crossbow," from Old French telier "stock of a crossbow" (c.1200), originally "weaver's beam," from Medieval Latin telarium, from Latin tela "web; loom," from PIE *teks-la-, from root *teks- "to weave" (see texture). Meaning "bar to turn the rudder of a boat" first recorded 1620s.

"one who tills," mid-13c., from till (v.).

Etymology 1 n. 1 A person who tills; a farmer. 2 A machine that mechanically tills the soil. Etymology 2

alt. 1 (context obsolete English) A young tree. 2 A shoot of a plant which springs from the root or bottom of the original stalk; a sapling; a sucker. n. 1 (context obsolete English) A young tree. 2 A shoot of a plant which springs from the root or bottom of the original stalk; a sapling; a sucker. vb. (context intransitive English) To put forth new shoots from the root or from around the bottom of the original stalk; stool. Etymology 3

n. 1 (context archery English) The stock; a beam on a crossbow carved to fit the arrow, or the point of balance in a longbow. 2 (context nautical English) A bar of iron or wood connected with the rudderhead and leadline, usually forward, in which the rudder is moved as desired by the tiller (FM 55-501). 3 (context nautical English) The handle of the rudder which the helmsman holds to steer the boat, a piece of wood or metal extending forward from the rudder over or through the transom. Generally attached at the top of the rudder. 4 A handle; a stalk. 5 (context UK dialect obsolete English) A small drawer; a till.

1. n. a shoot that sprouts from the base of a grass

2. someone who tills land (prepares the soil for the planting of crops)

3. lever used to turn the rudder on a boat

4. a farm implement used to break up the surface of the soil (for aeration and weed control and conservation of moisture) [syn: cultivator]

5. v. grow shoots in the form of stools or tillers [syn: stool]

A tiller or till is a lever attached to a rudder post (American terminology) or rudder stock (English terminology) of a boat that provides leverage in the form of torque for the helmsman to turn the rudder. The tiller can be used by the helmsman directly pulling or pushing it, but it may also be moved remotely using tiller lines or a ship's wheel.

Rapid or excessive movement of the tiller results in an increase in drag and will result in braking or slowing the boat. In steering a boat, the tiller is always moved in the direction opposite of which the bow of the boat is to move. If the tiller is moved to port side (left), the bow will turn to starboard (right). If the tiller is moved to starboard (right), the bow will turn port (left). Sailing students often learn the alliterative phrase "Tiller Towards Trouble" to remind them of how to steer.

A tiller is a lever to provide leverage for the helmsman to turn the rudder of a ship.

Tiller may also refer to:

• Steering
  • A steering device present on some very early automobiles before the steering wheel became the only car steering utility
  • A small steering wheel in the cockpit of an aircraft used to steer the nose wheel. Used on ground when the aircraft does not have enough speed for use of the rudder
  • A tiller ladder fire truck, with separate steering wheels for front and rear wheels
• Rotary tiller, a garden implement used for turning soil (or the person who operates such a device)
• Tiller (botany), a plant body part, specially in cereals or in grasses, a new shoot(s) which arises from lateral meristem.
• The stock of a crossbow
• The difference between the limb-string distances measured where the limbs are attached to the riser ( Recurve bow)
• The device a bowyer (maker of bows) uses to see if the bending of the bow limbs is equal
• Tiller IL, A Norwegian sports club

A tiller is a stem produced by grass plants, and refers to all shoots that grow after the initial parent shoot grows from a seed. Tillers are segmented, each segment possessing its own two-part leaf. They are involved in vegetative propagation and, in some cases, also seed production.

"Tillering" refers to the production of side shoots and is a property possessed by many species in the family Poaceae. This enables them to produce multiple stems (tillers) starting from the initial single seedling. This ensures the formation of dense tufts and multiple seed heads. Tillering rates are heavily influenced by soil water status. When soil moisture is low, grasses tend to develop more sparse and deep root systems (as opposed to dense, lateral systems). Thus tillering is inhibited; the lateral nature of tillering is not supported by lateral root growth in dry soils.

Tiller (foaled 14 April 1974) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse. Racing mainly on turf he won sixteen of his forty races between February 1977 and September 1980. He was not a champion, but won many important races and defeated many of the best racehorses of his era including Exceller and John Henry. He was unraced as a two-year-old and won three minor races as a three-year-old in 1977. In the following year he showed much-improved form, winning seven races including the Fort Marcy Handicap, Edgemere Handicap, Bowling Green Handicap and Tidal Handicap as well as finishing second in the Washington D C International. In 1979 he raced in California, winning the San Marcos Handicap and San Antonio Handicap on dirt and the San Juan Capistrano Handicap on turf. He also finished second to Affirmed in that year's Santa Anita Handicap. As a six-year-old he won the Sword Dancer Invitational Handicap and a second Tidal Handicap before he sustained a career-ending injury in September.