navigator
person who plans a vehicle’s route
A person who plans and checks the way a ship, plane, or other vehicle should go.
a navigator on [a ship/flight/car]
- The ship's navigator carefully plotted their course through the narrow strait.
- As the flight navigator, she checked their position every few minutes.
- During the race, he served as navigator while his teammate drove.
- The captain turned to the navigator for an update on their location.
- A mistake by the navigator caused the aircraft to drift off its planned route.
- The navigator told the pilot which way to go.
- On the ship, the navigator works in a small room with maps.
- He is training to be a navigator for long flights.
- The captain asked the navigator, “Where are we now?”
- The navigator checks the route again and again.
GPS or route-finding device/app
A small machine or phone app that uses GPS to show maps and tell you which way to go.
use a navigator to find [a place]
- She mounted a new GPS navigator on the dashboard of her car.
- The hiking navigator shows your exact position on the trail.
- I use a navigator app on my phone instead of a paper map.
- The built-in navigator recalculates the route when you miss a turn.
- Our rental car came with a voice-guided navigator in the center console.
- Turn on the navigator to find the hotel.
- My phone has a navigator that shows a blue line on the map.
- The car’s navigator says, “Turn left in 200 meters.”
- We bought a cheap navigator for our road trip.
- Without the navigator, we quickly got lost.
person guiding through complexity
A person who helps someone move through a difficult system or process and shows them what to do next.
[someone] acts as a navigator for [someone] through [a system]
- A patient navigator helps people understand their treatment options and appointments.
- He became a trusted navigator for immigrants dealing with local bureaucracy.
- As a financial navigator, her role is to guide clients through debt and budgeting decisions.
- The program pairs each student with a navigator who supports them during their first year.
- Without a skilled navigator, many families get lost in the healthcare system.
- The nurse works as a patient navigator at the hospital.
- My friend was my navigator when I moved to a new country.
- A career navigator can help you find a good job path.
- He needs a navigator to help him with all the documents.
- Our school gave each new student a navigator.
explorer who discovers new routes
An explorer, usually in history, who sailed or traveled to new places and helped make maps and sea routes.
a [nationality] navigator who discovered [a place/route]
- Vasco da Gama was a Portuguese navigator who found a sea route to India.
- Many early navigators risked their lives sailing into unknown waters.
- The museum has a special exhibition on 15th-century navigators.
- These charts were drawn by a famous navigator during his voyage around the world.
- European navigators changed global trade by finding new ocean routes.
- Long ago, navigators sailed to places nobody in Europe knew.
- Columbus is often called a great navigator.
- The story is about a young navigator on his first long trip.
- Old navigators used the stars to find their way.
- Many navigators died while looking for new sea routes.
- Base: navigator
- Plural: navigators
backseat navigator
1person constantly directing the driver
A person in the car who is not driving but keeps telling the driver which way to go, often in an annoying way.
- I don’t need a backseat navigator telling me when to turn.
- She’s such a backseat navigator that no one wants to drive her anywhere.
- Having two backseat navigators made the trip very stressful.
GPS navigator
1GPS-based navigation device
An electronic machine that uses GPS to show maps and tell you how to drive to a place.
- Our old GPS navigator stopped working on the way to the airport.
- She programmed the GPS navigator with the address before leaving.
- A portable GPS navigator is useful when you drive in a new country.
patient navigator
1person guiding patients in healthcare
A person who helps patients understand their treatment, make appointments, and move through the hospital system.
- The clinic hired a patient navigator to support people with cancer.
- As a patient navigator, she explains test results in simple language.
- Many hospitals now use patient navigators to reduce confusion and stress.
ship's navigator
1navigation officer on a ship
The person on a ship whose job is to plan and check the way the ship should go.
- The ship's navigator warned the captain about the shallow waters ahead.
- After years at sea, he finally became the ship's navigator.
- The ship's navigator spread the charts out on the table in the control room.