noun
- plural of steerage; the cheapest accommodations on a passenger ship, typically in the lower decks
Usage: nautical; historical
Examples
- The immigrants traveled in the steerages of various ships crossing the Atlantic.
- Conditions in the steerages were often cramped and uncomfortable.
- Many families could only afford passage in the steerages during the early 1900s.
- The ship’s steerages housed hundreds of passengers seeking new lives in America.
- Health inspectors regularly checked the steerages for sanitary conditions.