Navigate

ˈnæv.ɪ.ɡeɪt

verb

to plan and direct the route or course of a ship, aircraft, or other form of transportation

The word 'navigate' comes from the Latin word 'navigare', which is derived from 'navis' (ship) and 'agere' (to drive). Originally used to refer to steering a ship at sea, it now encompasses guiding any vehicle or person through an unfamiliar or complex course.

He must navigate treacherous waters, set his sails to catch the rising wind, know when a storm is coming and how best to weather it.

George R. R. Martin

A Storm of Swords

“Smugglers cannot navigate, the southern reaches any better than can Rabban’s men.

Herbert, Frank

Dune

I sure hope he didn't get picked up by the pigs on the way--he was so out of it, man, he could hardly navigate.

Dick, Philip K.

A Scanner Darkly

Cort taught them to navigate by the sun and stars; Vannay showed them compass and quadrant and sextant and taught them the mathematics necessary to use them.

Stephen King

Wolves of the Calla

“Maybe I could make the boat go faster?” “Even if you could,” Hazel said, “from what the captains tell me, it’s treacherous—icebergs, mazes of channels to navigate.

Rick Riordan

The Son of Neptune

When I am adrift and unable to navigate, that's when they come.

Suzanne Collins

Mockingjay

A dedicated thrasher could probably navigate from L.A. to New York by coasting from one parking lot into the next.

Neal Stephenson

Snow Crash

And when they come to look at that spare room they had to take soundings before they could navigate it.

Mark Twain

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

The top of the elf’s head barely reached the seat of Hepzibah’s chair, and her papery skin hung off her frame just like the crisp linen sheet she wore draped like a toga.“How do I look?” said Hepzibah, turning her head to admire the various angles of her face in the mirror.“Lovely, madam,” squeaked Hokey.Harry could only assume that it was down in Hokey’s contract that she must lie through her teeth when asked this question, because Hepzibah Smith looked a long way from lovely in his opinion.A tinkling doorbell rang and both mistress and elf jumped.“Quick, quick, he’s here, Hokey!” cried Hepzibah and the elf scurried out of the room, which was so crammed with objects that it was difficult to see how anybody could navigate their way across it without knocking over at least a dozen things: There were cabinets full of little lacquered boxes, cases full of gold-embossed books, shelves of orbs and celestial globes, and many flourishing potted plants in brass containers.

J. K. Rowling

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

The Spacing Guild feared the equation Arrakis=melange; without the spice they could not navigate.

Frank Herbert

Children of Dune