north by east
- noun
- Specialized
:
noreste
- The compass showed north by east, guiding us safely through the narrow passage.
Examples
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The ship sailed north by east to avoid the storm.
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Set your course to north by east to reach the island.
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The ship turned slightly to north by east to avoid the rocks.
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The wind was blowing steadily from north by east all morning.
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Can you point me north by east on the map?
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To navigate accurately, the captain instructed the crew to steer north by east toward the harbor.
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In the boating class, we learned that north by east indicates a direction slightly to the right of true north.
Synonyms
A compass direction just east of north at about 11 degrees
Antonyms
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase transparently combines the known directions 'north' and 'east' with the preposition 'by' to signal a direction slightly toward the east from due north, so a learner can infer a meaning like "a bit east of north." However, the exact navigational sense (the technical "one point" or 11°15′) and the specialist compass-notation use of 'by' are conventional and domain-specific, so the full precise meaning is not fully predictable to a B1 learner.
Etymology
North by east comes from old sailors and their round compass, which was split into small steps. It meant 'one point east of north', so the direction is a little to the east of north.