west by south


nounNavigation, Surveying.
  1. a point on the compass 11°15prime; south of west. Abbreviation: WbS

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How to use west by south in a sentence

  • He steered, as nearly as he could calculate, west-by-south, allowing at a guess for the set of the tide.

    Major Vigoureux | A. T. Quiller-Couch
  • They were in open water again, still making—or at any rate the boat so pointed—west-by-south.

    Major Vigoureux | A. T. Quiller-Couch
  • I pricked that place off on the chart with my dividers, and with my parallel rulers found that west-by-south was the true course.

  • According to his story he was obliged to tack and take the direction of west-by-south.

    De Orbe Novo, Volume 1 (of 2) | Trans. by Francis Augustus MacNutt
  • About fifty minutes after sunset, observed a strong ray of light in the west-by-south quarter, supposed to be a zodiacal light.

British Dictionary definitions for west by south

west by south

noun
  1. one point on the compass south of west, 258° 45′ clockwise from north

adjective, adverb
  1. in, from, or towards this direction

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012