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adjective Stern adj. (compar. sterner; superl. sternest) Having a certain hardness or severity of nature, manner, or aspect; hard; severe; rigid; rigorous; austere; fixed; unchanging; unrelenting; hence, serious; resolute; harsh; as, a sternresolve; a stern necessity; a stern heart; a stern gaze; a stern decree. "The sterne wind so loud gan to rout." "I would outstare the sternest eyes that look." "When that the poor have cried, Caesar hath wept; Ambition should be made of sterner stuff." "Stern as tutors, and as uncles hard." "These barren rocks, your stern inheritance." Synonyms: Gloomy; sullen; forbidding; strict; unkind; hard-hearted; unfeeling; cruel; pitiless.
Stern adj. Being in the stern, or being astern; as, the stern davits. Stern board (Naut.), a going or falling astern; a loss of way in making a tack; as, to make a stern board. See Board, n., 8 (b). Stern chaser (Naut.), a cannon placed in a ship's stern, pointing backward, and intended to annoy a ship that is in pursuit. Stern fast (Naut.), a rope used to confine the stern of a ship or other vessel, as to a wharf or buoy. Stern frame (Naut.), the framework of timber forms the stern of a ship. Stern knee. See Sternson. Stern port (Naut.), a port, or opening, in the stern of a ship. Stern sheets (Naut.), that part of an open boat which is between the stern and the aftmost seat of the rowers, usually furnished with seats for passengers. Stern wheel, a paddle wheel attached to the stern of the steamboat which it propels.
noun Stern n. (Zool.) The black tern.
Stern n. 1.The helm or tiller of a vessel or boat; also, the rudder. (Obs.) 2.(Naut.) The after or rear end of a ship or other vessel, or of a boat; the part opposite to the stem, or prow. 3.Fig.: The post of management or direction. "And sit chiefest stern of public weal." 4.The hinder part of anything. 5.The tail of an animal; now used only of the tail of a dog. By the stern. (Naut.) See By the head, under By.
Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48
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