careen

1 of 2

verb

ca·​reen kə-ˈrēn 

careened; careening; careens

transitive verb

1

: to put (a ship or boat) on a beach especially in order to clean, caulk, or repair the hull

2

: to cause to heel over

High waves careened the boat.

intransitive verb

1

a

: to clean, caulk, or repair the hull of a boat

b

: to undergo this process

2

: to heel over

3

: to sway from side to side : lurch

a careening carriage being pulled wildly … by a team of runaway horses

—J. P. Getty

4

: career

The car careened down the hill.

careen

2 of 2

noun

archaic

: the act or process of careening : the state of being careened

Did you know?

Careen and Career

Some people might be confused by the warning to not confuse careen and career, because the most common sense of career ("a profession") is not much like any of the meanings of careen. But when employed as a verb, career does have some semantic overlap with careen; both words may be used to mean "to go at top speed especially in a headlong manner." A car, for instance, may either careen or career. Some usage guides hold, however, that the car is only careening if there is side-to-side motion, as careen has other meanings related to movement, among which is "to sway from side to side."

Synonyms

Verb

• lurch
• pitch
• rock
• roll
• seesaw
• sway
• toss
• wobble
• wabble

Examples of careen in a Sentence

Verb

the sled careened as it barreled down the hill

he careened unsteadily to the couch after hitting his head

Recent Examples on the Web

Verb

In January 2018, a car careened off Torrey Pines Road onto the adjacent hillside, landing in the yard of one of the Coast Walk houses below. —Noah Lyons, San Diego Union-Tribune, 23 Jan. 2025

The rebound careened right back to his stick, and the reigning MVP easily put it in the net past a diving Hellebuyck, who appeared to still be trying to find the puck off the initial shot. —Kyle Newman, The Denver Post, 22 Jan. 2025

On Friday afternoon, divers on a D.C. police boat maneuvered through slabs of ice atop the water and recovered the second of two dead bodies—a pickup truck had careened off the Memorial Bridge and been entombed under the surface. —Antonia Hitchens, The New Yorker, 20 Jan. 2025

The Denver Broncos were careening toward a three-and-out on the first drive of their first playoff game in nine years. —Nick Kosmider, The Athletic, 13 Jan. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Verb

from carine side of a ship, from Middle French, submerged part of a hull, from Latin carina hull, half of a nutshell; perhaps akin to Greek karyon nut

First Known Use

Verb

circa 1583, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

Noun

1712, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

careen

verb

ca·​reen

kə-ˈrēn

1

: to cause a boat to lean or tilt over on one side for cleaning or repairing

2

: to sway from side to side

3

: career entry 2