How to Use steerage in a Sentence

steerage

noun
  • The 99% are the steerage class.
    — Dp Opinion, Denver Post, 7 Apr. 2026
  • Carnegie came over in steerage and poured the steel that became our skylines.
    — Anthony Scaramucci, Fortune, 28 June 2026
  • If Miranda Priestly can get thrown in steerage, we’re all screwed.
    — Amy Nicholson, Los Angeles Times, 29 Apr. 2026
  • Even immigrants who arrive willingly get here in despair, if not in chains, then in steerage.
    — Jesse Green, New York Times, 16 May 2017
  • With $3 in his pocket, Sidney traveled steerage on a mail-cargo ship.
    — Hillel Italie, The Christian Science Monitor, 7 Jan. 2022
  • Not only had there been no lifeboat drills, the crew provided steerage passengers almost no direction at all.
    — Cody Cassidy, Wired, 30 Oct. 2020
  • In Episode 8, the Young Pope strolls through the steerage section of the papal plane and gazes over a dozing press corps.
    — Jason Horowitz, New York Times, 13 Feb. 2017
  • Most comrades sprawl shoeless, many dozing open-mouthed in the permanent state of steerage that is Soviet air travel.
    — New York Times, 11 July 2022
  • Under his steerage, the newspaper became an important tool to lobby for the fugitives' return.
    — Cnn Staff, CNN, 4 Sep. 2020
  • If the proletariat sitting in steerage pays for air services, so should a CEO flying across the country for lunch.
    — The Editorial Board, WSJ, 11 Oct. 2017
  • The Padres, stuck in steerage on their own wayward ship, are embarking on the most important offseason voyage in their history.
    — San Diego Union-Tribune, 5 Oct. 2019
  • The doors to the lot opened briefly, then shut again, trapping people in the process like Jack and Rose trying to get from steerage to first class in the Titanic.
    — The Cut, 10 Sep. 2017
  • In 1892, Hamburg was the largest seaport in the world and sent off dozens of ships filled stem to stern with travelers, goods, cargo, and steerage immigrants.
    — Howard Markel, Wired, 4 Mar. 2020
  • All third-class and steerage passengers, on the other hand, were put on a ferry to Ellis Island, where women and children were separated in one line and men in the other.
    — Paul Thompson, National Geographic, 13 Nov. 2019
  • His father was an orphan who came to America from Norway in 1911 with his seven brothers and sisters in the steerage of a ship, Yndestad said.
    — Suzanne Baker, chicagotribune.com, 23 Dec. 2021
  • Whether one traces his Americanism back three centuries to the Mayflower, or three years of the steerage, is not half so important as whether his Americanism of to-day is real and genuine.
    — Katherine J. Wu, Smithsonian, 2 July 2018
  • Annie Moore was the first of 12 million immigrants to land on Ellis Island, a 17-year-old from Ireland who had traveled in steerage.
    — Rich Cohen, WSJ, 11 July 2019
  • Alfred Stieglitz and Jacob Riis composed subjects with a spare, Modernist look in mind, but immigrants in steerage or children in factories were the stuff of real life.
    — Brian T. Allen, National Review, 12 Feb. 2022
  • This season, under the steerage of rising star head coach Jon Sumrall and transfer quarterback Jake Retzlaff, Tulane soared to an 11-2 record, with wins over big-conference teams like Northwestern and Duke.
    — Becky Sullivan, NPR, 19 Dec. 2025

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'steerage.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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