On a small boat, the tiller is the long wooden or metal handle attached to the rudder. You hold it and push it sideways to steer.

On a small boat在小船上, the tillertiller is the long wooden or metal handle是一根長長的木製或金屬把手 attached to the rudder接在舵上. You hold it and push it sideways to steer你握著它，左右推動來控制方向。

The thing that catches every learner out is that it works backwards: push the tiller to the left and the boat turns right. Anyone who has sailed a dinghy has spent a first afternoon getting this wrong.

The thing that catches every learner out is that it works backwards每個學習者都會被騙到的地方是，它的運作方式是反的: push the tiller to the left and the boat turns right把tiller往左推，船會往右轉. Anyone who has sailed a dinghy has spent a first afternoon getting this wrong任何開過小帆船的人，第一個下午都一定搞錯過這一點。

Big ships have a wheel instead; tillers belong to sailing dinghies, small yachts and rowing boats.

Big ships have a wheel instead大船用的則是方向盤; tillers belong to sailing dinghies, small yachts and rowing boatstiller是屬於小帆船、小遊艇和划艇的東西。

Because you steer with it, the word carries a figure of speech: 'at the tiller' means in charge, steering the whole enterprise — 'with a steady hand at the tiller, the company came through the crisis'. It is the same picture as 'at the helm', just a smaller boat.

Because you steer with it因為是用它來控制方向, the word carries a figure of speech這個字也帶出一種比喻用法: 'at the tiller' means in charge, steering the whole enterprise'at the tiller'意思是掌舵、主導整件事 — 'with a steady hand at the tiller, the company came through the crisis''with a steady hand at the tiller, the company came through the crisis'（穩穩掌舵之下，公司撐過了這場危機）. It is the same picture as 'at the helm', just a smaller boat這跟'at the helm'是同一個畫面，只是船比較小。

Two other meanings share the spelling. A tiller is also a machine for breaking up soil in a garden — a rotary tiller, what a Taiwanese gardener would call 中耕機 — and, in gardening and farming, a new shoot that grows up from the base of a grass plant like rice or wheat. Rice farmers count tillers, because more tillers means more grain.

Two other meanings share the spelling還有另外兩個意思共用這個拼法. A tiller is also a machine for breaking up soil in a gardentiller也可以指用來翻鬆花園土壤的機器 — a rotary tiller, what a Taiwanese gardener would call 中耕機rotary tiller，台灣的園丁會叫它中耕機 — and, in gardening and farming, a new shoot that grows up from the base of a grass plant like rice or wheat另外在園藝和農業上，也指從稻子或小麥這類禾本植物基部長出來的新芽（分蘗）. Rice farmers count tillers稻農會去數tillers（分蘗數）, because more tillers means more grain因為分蘗越多，穀粒就越多。