Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- adv. Behind a vessel.
- adv. At or to the stern of a vessel.
- adv. With or having the stern foremost; backward.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- At or toward the hinder part of a ship: as, to go astern.
- Behind, at any indefinite distance: as, the ship was far astern of us.
- In the direction of the stern; backward; back; to the rear: said of a ship: as, the current drove us far astern.
Wiktionary
GNU Webster's 1913
- adv. In or at the hinder part of a ship; toward the hinder part, or stern; backward.
- adv. Behind a ship; in the rear.
WordNet 3.0
- adv. (of a ship or an airplane) behind
- adv. stern foremost or backward
- adv. at or near or toward the stern of a ship or tail of an airplane
Examples
“Glad to hear it," returned the other, who could read our name astern as she lay athwart us.”
“I demanded: but the next moment I heard his call astern and knew that, monkey-like, he had got her over and was aboard her somehow.”
The Lady and the Pirate Being the Plain Tale of a Diligent Pirate and a Fair Captive
“midship-house, and Charles Davis lies about him nursing a marlin-spike, and Christian Jespersen, miles astern, is deep sunk in the sea with a sack of coal at his feet.”
“midship-house, and Charles Davis lies about him nursing a marlin - spike, and Christian Jespersen, miles astern, is deep sunk in the sea with a sack of coal at his feet.”
“By all rules of tactical common-sense it would seem that the other ships should have taken their distance from their next astern, that is, should have closed toward the centre.”
“The rudder is gone, and we have sprung a leak astern which is more than we can stop.”
“Only a very few of these, of course, lay anywhere near the city's direct line - of flight-indeed, many of them were scattered "astern" (that is, under the keel of the city), in the imaginary - hemisphere on the other side of his home Sun.”
Cities In Flight
“The word "astern" was given as soon as the harpoon was thrown.”
The Von Toodleburgs Or, The History of a Very Distinguished Family
“Besides these she possessed two "astern" turbines and two cruising turbines -- all four on the wing shafts.”
“We have one good boat left, the new yawl at the booms: the others, as you know, are washed away, with the exception of the little boat astern, which is useless, as she is knocked almost to pieces.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘astern’.
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When a door is ajar
Words with the prefix "a"
ajar, asleep, akin, ablaze, afoot, abed, aground, aback, afloat, alive, abaft, abloom and 91 more...
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On with their heads!
Words that make other words with the addition of one letter at the beginning. The resulting words are tagged "behead".
men, his, yes, any, iota, limb, aged, laid, land, lead, read, word and 315 more...
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