1. a thing used to keep something steady or stable.
▪ another term for horizontal stabilizer
▪ a gyroscopically controlled system used to reduce the rolling of a ship.
▪ training wheels.British
▪ a financial mechanism that prevents unsettling fluctuation in an economic system: "the role of taxes and public spending as automatic stabilizers in modern economies"
2. a substance which prevents the breakdown of emulsions, especially in foods and paints.