1A tiller or wheel for steering a ship or boat.

1. 1.1 A position of leadership.
   the chairman is to step down after four years at the helm

   Example sentencesExamples

   • The 56-year-old, who was knighted last year, has been at the helm of Scotland's National Gallery since 1984.
   • Cheney stepped down from that position in August 2000 after nearly five years at the helm of the company.
   • His stance just let the issue grow more out of control and brought his own status at the helm of the Spanish team to an almost untenable position.
   • In any case, you are now at the helm and the reputation of the Journal of Reproductive Medicine is in your hands.
   • It secured its director a two-picture deal with Warner Brothers and a position at the helm of the next instalment of the beleaguered Batman franchise.
   • The man at the helm was the MD, credit controller, editor, advertising manager and distribution manager combined.
   • To his credit, he was at the helm as his country industrialized.
   • Leadership changes were recently made at the helm of three cooperative bargaining associations.
   • It said there was strong leadership at the helm, political stability and that staff were focused on customers and well motivated.
   • It was an honour to be placed at the helm, but it was more of a challenge than he was prepared for because the Telegraph was an ailing business time-warped in the 1950s.
   • At the end of the war politicians, little aware of the new zeitgeist which pervaded the country, tried to regain the position at the helm of public affairs which they had enjoyed before the outbreak of war.
   • The new leadership, with Boris Yeltsin at the helm, took power in Russia.
   • In a time of crisis, a majority of Israelis still trust Sharon to be at the helm more than any other leader.
   • If the uprising had succeeded with these leaders at the helm, then places like this would have long since returned to the ownership of the local community.
   • I am confident that she will provide strong leadership at the helm and I wish her the very best.
   • Gill had announced earlier this week that he wouldn't be contesting to retain his position at the helm of Indian hockey.
   • When there was talk of a change of leadership at the helm after the poll debacle, he emerged as Antony's unlikely supporter.
   • In October 1999, Marshall became one of 13 women at the helm of a state supreme court.
   • Newbridge and District Chamber of Commerce has a new leader at the helm.
   • From my perspective, the lessons from these business debacles are relatively simple - an absence of quality leadership at the helm.

   Synonyms

   in charge, in command, in control, responsible, at the top, in authority, in the seat of authority, at the wheel, in the driving seat, in the saddle

   managing, running, administering, directing, supervising, overseeing, controlling, commanding, leading, heading up

   informal holding the reins, running the show, pulling the strings, calling the shots
2. 1.2Nautical A helmsman.
   he is a competent helm

   Example sentencesExamples

   • The order was repeated once more by the Chief of the Boat to the helm and planesmen.
   • There will be boats available with experienced helms to take visitors on to the water together with safety boat cover.
   • He sailed like the true champion to recover six places through the race, catching the Argentinian helm with the last surge on the finish line.
   • The captain cut the comm link and took a deep breath, after which the helm spoke.
   • Nine boats turned out for the J.M. Sladen Trophy race in the north lake while three helms with light-weather yachts decided to sit this one out.

1Steer (a boat or ship)

1. 1.1 Manage (an organization)
   the magazine he helmed in the late eighties

   Example sentencesExamples

   • So now it's on the record label and their headliner acts to prove that they're not going down with the ship that they largely helmed for the last couple years.
   • Future Tense Books is a wonderful publishing house in Portland, Oregon, helmed by the unstoppable one-man publishing crew of Kevin Sampsell.
   • Despite the fact he continues to helm the magazine, everyone over there seems to have thrown in the towel.
   • The past seven World Series have been won by teams with former catchers as managers, and ex-catchers helmed 11 of 30 major league teams to start this season.
   • He currently helms the company responsible for managing the West Indies' hosting of cricket's premier one-day tournament, set to take place in three years' time.
   • The ethically challenged cabinet-minister-cum-lobbyist now outrageously helms the Royal Canadian Mint.
   • Leftfield hip-hop producer Carlos Nino helms the street fair that only ends when the National Guardsman come.
   • Witness the recent leaking of testimony from the inquiry onto Captain's Quarters, a conservative Minnesota-based blog helmed by ‘Captain Ed’ Morrissey.
   • Besotted with the theater, he created and helmed a famous drama department in a university that did little to encourage his efforts.
   • He helms all instrumental duties - from vocals, to guitar, samples, and drum programming.
   • At 5 p.m., outrageous drag king Bob Loblaws helms a poetry slam, and the main show features a set of straight-up spoken word, a set of multimedia performance, and a set with words accompanied by music.
   • The 26-year-old social scenester will be writing a piece for Details magazine, the Dan Peres-helmed metrosexual bible.
   • The focal point of a loose community of struggling musicians, Sonic Deli is a recording studio/house band/indie label/music publishing company helmed by veteran local rocker Jim Armstrong.
   • He swore he would helm the florist freebie magazine for a year at the most.
   • In its humble beginnings, Chart was once a stark eight-page, photocopied, black-and-white fanzine helmed by people who devoted a cover to Sinead O'Connor.
   • These new cultural-center cafeterias - helmed by star chefs - will change your mind.
   • The country currently helmed by Mr. Tony Blair is the United Kingdom.
   • The record is helmed by one-time Pixies producer Gil Norton, but it's not a point worth dwelling on, since his presence here is just as anonymous as the style of the music.
   • T-Bone Burnett earned his greatest renown as a producer, helming recording sessions for acts ranging from Roy Orbison to Sam Phillips.
   • As executive director of the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, Melissa Johnson helms the effort to get Americans in shape.
2. 1.2North American Direct (a film).
   Example sentencesExamples

   • For Bruce Paltrow, whose background is primarily in television, this is his second turn helming a feature film.
   • The original 1995 buddy-explosion-caper was helmed by Michael Bay, but there's no news whether he'll be back too.
   • Franchise creator Bryan Singer jumped ship to helm Superman Returns and then British director Matthew Vaughn committed to the project only to bail out at the last minute.
   • Jason Alexander, of ‘Seinfeld’ fame, helms the film in his second stint in the director's chair.
   • One man who did take time to visit Hudson is Lord Puttnam, whose patronage led to Hudson helming Chariots Of Fire after a long apprenticeship in documentaries.
   • Certainly, the fact that he helmed Penthouse magazine's infamous foray into Roman history hasn't helped his standing in the world of film.
   • Best known as Italy's premier special effects pioneer, director Mario Bava was at the absolute top of his game when he helmed the film.
   • We do get a window into how the film was helmed from a behind-the-scenes setting.
   • This is the first film you have helmed.
   • Swedish television provides footage of him helming a scene from the movie.
   • When it comes to helming hilarious motion pictures, there is something special in those genes.
   • British director, Christopher Hampton, has helmed the film, which chronicles the ‘dirty war’ that raged in Argentina during the Seventies, and which mixes magic realism with graphic scenes of torture.
   • The movie is still a long way from production, as Bay plans to helm another expensive extravaganza before then.
   • The director, who helmed Training Day, brings out the visceral elements of Africa's emotional terrain, but is unable to bring any depth to his main characters.
   • That show was developed by one Russell T Davies - the guy who helmed the revival of Doctor Who.
   • Within a week of arriving on the French Riviera, Prince fired Lambert and decided to helm the film himself.
   • It's interesting to note that all three of the recent major Marvel superhero movies have been helmed by directors whose roots are in independent cinema.
   • It was directed by Norman Jewison, who helmed an amazing number of successful movies.
   • This is the first time Jacobs has helmed his own film, but he has been a producer and/or assistant director for Soderbergh for more than a decade.
   • Believing the director to be an uninspired hack fresh from cutting his teeth on music videos and commercials, I was surprised to learn that he helmed a low-budget, insightful drama.

A helmet.