Sekirov Dictionary

stern

UK /stɜːn/US /stɝn/

noun 5
adjective 2
verb 2
forms 5
phrases 1

noun5

The rear part (after end) of a ship or other vessel.
The hinder part of anything.
(figurative) The post of management or direction.
•
The tail of an animal; now used only of the tail of a dog.
- And all attonce her beastly bodie raizd / With doubled forces high aboue the ground: / Tho wrapping vp her wrethed sterne arownd, / Lept fierce vpon his shield, [...] — 1590
A bird, the black tern, seabird.

adjective2

•
Having a hardness and severity of nature or manner.
- I haue beene wooed, as I intreat thee now, / Euen by the sterne, and direfull God of warre, / VVhose sinowie necke in battel nere did bow, / VVho conquers where he comes in euery iarre; […] — 1594
•
Grim and forbidding in appearance.
- The remark earned me a stern rebuke.

verb2

To propel or move backward or stern-first in the water.
(no longer used) To steer, to direct the course of (a ship).

forms

sterned · sterning · sterns · sterner · sternest

Phrases with stern

from stem to stern
Over the full length of a ship or boat, from the front end of the vessel to the back end.

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