Definitions for: Stern


[n] the rear part of a ship
[n] the fleshy part of the human body that you sit on
[n] United States concert violinist (born in Russia in 1920)
[adj] severe and unremitting in making demands; "an exacting instructor"; "a stern disciplinarian"; "strict standards"
[adj] of a stern or strict bearing or demeanor; forbidding in aspect; "an austere expression"; "a stern face"
[adj] not to be placated or appeased or moved by entreaty; "grim determination"; "grim necessity"; "Russia's final hour, it seemed, approached with inexorable certainty"; "relentless persecution"; "the stern demands of parenthood"



Webster (1913) Definition: Stern, n. [AS. stearn a kind of bird. See Starling.]
(Zo["o]l.)
The black tern.


Stern, a. [Compar. Sterner; superl. Sternest.] [OE.
sterne, sturne, AS. styrne; cf. D. stuurish stern, Sw. stursk
refractory. [root]166.]
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. --Chaucer.

I would outstare the sternest eyes that look. --Shak.

When that the poor have cried, C[ae]sar hath wept;
Ambition should be made of sterner stuff. --Shak.

Stern as tutors, and as uncles hard. --Dryden.

These barren rocks, your stern inheritance.
--Wordsworth.

Syn: Gloomy; sullen; forbidding; strict; unkind;
hard-hearted; unfeeling; cruel; pitiless.


Stern, n. [Icel. stj[=o]rn a steering, or a doubtful AS.
ste['o]rn. [root]166. See Steer, v. t.]
1. The helm or tiller of a vessel or boat; also, the rudder.
[Obs.] --Chaucer.

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. --Shak.

4. The hinder part of anything. --Spenser.

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.


Stern, a.
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 chase. (Naut.)
(a) See under Chase, n.
(b) A stern chaser.

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.

Synonyms: after part, arse, ass, austere, backside, behind, bottom, bum, buns, butt, buttocks, can, demanding, derriere, exacting, fanny, fundament, grim, hind end, hindquarters, implacable, inexorable, Isaac Stern, keister, nates, nonindulgent, poop, posterior, prat, quarter, rear, rear end, relentless, rump, seat, strict, tail, tail, tail end, tooshie, tush, unappeasable, unforgiving, unrelenting

See Also: back, body, body part, escutcheon, fiddler, rear, ship, skeg, torso, trunk, violinist

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