Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A mooring line run over the stern of a vessel.

Etymologies

Sorry, no etymologies found.

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word stern-line.

Examples

  • An ominous, minute snapping noise came from the stern-line.

    SMALL-BOAT SAILING 2010

  • Unloosing the stern-line, which alone held her, the boat was borne on by the rapid stream.

    Hatchie, the Guardian Slave; or, The Heiress of Bellevue Warren T. Ashton

  • Kirk, a little apprehensive, stumbled aft and felt for the stern-line.

    The Happy Venture Edith Ballinger Price 1947

  • An ominous, minute snapping noise came from the stern-line.

    Small-Boat Sailing 1917

  • He passed the bight of the stern-line in a triple loop around the drum of the windlass, and without awaiting his instructions, the girl grasped the slack of the line and prepared to walk away with it as the rope paid in on the windlass.

    The Valley of the Giants 1918

  • Manila stern-line to which it was attached, and slipped the loop of the mooring-cable over the dolphin at the end of the dock.

    The Valley of the Giants 1918

  • "Some men wanted aft here to take up the slack of the stern-line on the windlass, sir," he shouted to the skipper, who was walking around on top of the house.

    The Valley of the Giants 1918

  • The stern-line was the same -- cut square and clean.

    The Man from the Bitter Roots Caroline Lockhart 1916

  • We can go up the Danube to Vienna, up the Thames to London, and we can go up the Seine to Paris and moor opposite the Latin Quarter with a bow-line out to Notre Dame and a stern-line fast to the Morgue.

    Chapter 1 -- Foreword 1913

  • An ominous, minute snapping noise came from the stern-line.

    The Joy Of Small-Boat Sailing 1912

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.