wheelhouse

wheelhouse (HWEEL-haus) - n., (naut.) an enclosed area on a boat or ship that houses the steering wheel, (fig.) a place or center of control or leadership; (N.Am.) (baseball) the area where a batter can hit best or can exert the the most power, (N.Am.) (fig.) one’s area of expertise or interest.


That last usually appears in the idiom "in (one's) wheelhouse." Given it was derived from the baseball jargon, I'm curious whether it ever gets used outside North America. Some dictionaries derive the baseball jargon as a direct figurative extension of the nautical meaning.

---L.