Meaning of steady hand on the tiller | Babel Free

Definitions

1. Reliable, composed control (of an organization or situation).
   idiomatic, uncountable, usually
2. A person exhibiting such control.
   broadly, idiomatic, uncountable, usually

Examples

“The new president of the Varityper division of the financially troubled AM International, Joseph A. Verderber, knows that he has his work cut out for him. . . . "My challenge in a ship that big is to make certain that it has a good steady hand on the tiller."”

“"My hero," McCain declared, is Theodore Roosevelt, who said, "Walk softly, and carry a big stick." . . . McCain was left with this: "When times are tough, we need a steady hand on the tiller."”

“Analyst Mark Brumby at Astaire said: ". . . The share register remains skewed but the current shareholders are likely to have learned from the mistakes of the past and, it is to be hoped, will provide a steady hand on the tiller."”

“[T]heir expressions of confidence in the new Bush administration were likely heartfelt — officials around the world reminisced enthusiastically about the scion of a president best remembered as a sober and steady hand on the tiller of foreign policy.”

“In his time, the veteran director Mike Newell has tackled a remarkably wide range of film genres. . . .[H]e was the steady hand on the tiller of the phenomenal Four Weddings and a Funeral, a deceptively effortless-looking romantic comedy which, lest we forget, did not direct itself.”

“For six years Prime Minister Stephen Harper has promoted himself as a “steady hand on the tiller” to steer the nation through turbulent economic waters.”

CEFR level