at the helm
39
4.2
- idiom
:
estar al mando
- When the new CEO took over, everyone felt more confident with someone experienced at the helm.
- years at the helm
They didn't realize that, but they're at the helm of it.
- They didn't realize that, but they're at the helm of it.
- And I am happy that he is at the helm.
- Transjordan will achieve quasi independence with a Hashemite King at the helm nonetheless, and that would be Emir Abdullah, the first Faisal's brother.
- But but when Captain Gorley is is at the helm, this is what I must submit to.
- The Jets have shown enormous composure this year with Todd Bowles at the helm and have swung me.
- However, this is first trophy as a as a coach, as a manager at being at the helm.
- He was definitely a free speech advocate, but he was not he, he really wasn't at the helm when they came to the decision to take Trump off the platform.
- She said that there are people at the helm of humanity.
- And you're the guy from Ohio and Wisconsin and suddenly you're you're at the helm of this amazing mark.
- So we have people who don't know chemistry and how to run the water at the helm.
- And so Avery, she's incredible, sits at the helm of that and, and hoping to get her on too one day.
- You know, I, I in some ways with David Fincher at the helm, maybe you just go like, let's go get on this boat and see what happens.
Examples
-
As for academia, Harvard, MIT, and Princeton currently have women at the helm.
Academic text (2007) -
As he swabs it carefully, Leila is at the helm, keeping the speeding, bouncing boat on course.
Fiction book (1998) -
I can see you now, at the helm of your ship.
-
We need you at the helm!
-
Right or wrong, someone has got to be at the helm.
-
Well, I see our brave captain is still at the helm.
-
In his fifteen years at the helm, there had not been a single food fight among faculty members.
Academic text (2003) -
Robert's departure left Jon Kelly alone at the helm of the northern California broadcasting venture.
Academic text (2017) -
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers will start this season with a new quarterback at the helm.
-
Founded in 1940 with Thurgood Marshall at the helm, the LDF provided legal help to poor African Americans.
Academic text (2004)
Synonyms
19
4.3
In charge of a situation or group and guiding what happens
9
6.3
A person who is in charge of a company or group
Antonyms
How In Charge
- Slang
1
7.8
39
4.2
∞
1.0
∞
2.7
7
5.1
Surface Forms
Morphology
at + the + helm
The meaning is directly inferable from the parts: 'at' marks location and 'helm' refers to the steering/control position, so being 'at the helm' transparently conveys being in control or in charge. This nautical-to-leadership metaphor is common across many languages (e.g., Spanish 'al timón', French 'à la barre'), so learners who know the constituent words should readily grasp the expression.
Etymology
The phrase at the helm comes from ships, where the person at the helm steered the boat and chose its direction. So, if someone is at the helm, they are 'in charge' of a team or company.