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Glite Dictionary
northwest by north

northwest by north

4.2
A compass direction slightly north of northwest
  • noun
  • Specialized
translation icon : noroeste por norte
  • Traditional sailors were trained to identify northwest by north on the compass during navigation.

Examples

  • The ship changed course to northwest by north to avoid the incoming storm.

  • To reach the lighthouse, steer the boat at a heading of northwest by north.

  • Set your heading to northwest by north and you will reach the island by dusk.

  • The ship sailed northwest by north to avoid the storm.

  • Can you adjust the course to northwest by north?

  • The navigator instructed the crew to sail northwest by north for a quicker route.

  • During the race, the pilot communicated that they would be flying northwest by north to avoid turbulence.

Synonyms

NWbN
vsnorthwest by north
  • Specialized
9.9

A compass direction a little north of northwest

is the full phrase form rather than the abbreviation

Antonyms

southeast by south
7.5

A compass direction slightly south of southeast, at 157.5 degrees from north

Surface Forms

northwest by north singular

Morphology

northwest + by + north

The constituents 'northwest' and 'north' clearly signal directions and the word 'by' indicates a modification, so a learner who knows those words can infer this means a direction slightly toward north from northwest. However, the precise navigational convention (that it denotes exactly one compass point or 11.25°) is technical and not fully predictable from the parts alone, making the term only partially transparent to an average B1 learner.

Etymology

Northwest by north comes from old sailors who gave more names to the points on a compass so they could show small steps between directions. It means the point just a bit north of northwest, so today saying northwest by north means 'a little north of northwest'.