Steer'age, n.
n. 1. The act or practice of directing and governing in a course; as, the steerage of a ship.
He left the city, and, in a most tempestuous season, forsook the helm and steerage of the commonwealth. Milton.
Sense 2. (Naut.) (a.) The effect of a helm on the ship; the manner in which an individual ship is affected by the helm. (b.) The hinder part of a vessel; the stern. [Rare.] Swift. (c.) An apartment in the space between decks forward of the great cabin, from which it is separated by a bulk-head or partition; also, an apartment in a ship for an inferior class of passengers. Dana. Simmonds.
“He that hath the steerage of my course.” Shak.
You raise the honor of the peerage. Proud to attend you at the steerage. Swift.
Sense 4. That by which a course is directed.
Here he hung on high, The steerage of his wings. Dryden.
Steerage passenger, a second class passenger in a passenger ship, who occupies the steerage.