'Stern' definitions:

Definition of 'stern'

From: WordNet
adjective
Of a stern or strict bearing or demeanor; forbidding in aspect; "an austere expression"; "a stern face" [syn: austere, stern]
adjective
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" [syn: grim, inexorable, relentless, stern, unappeasable, unforgiving, unrelenting]
adjective
Severe and unremitting in making demands; "an exacting instructor"; "a stern disciplinarian"; "strict standards" [syn: stern, strict, exacting]
adjective
Severely simple; "a stark interior" [syn: austere, severe, stark, stern]
noun
The rear part of a ship [syn: stern, after part, quarter, poop, tail]
noun
United States concert violinist (born in Russia in 1920) [syn: Stern, Isaac Stern]
noun
The fleshy part of the human body that you sit on; "he deserves a good kick in the butt"; "are you going to sit on your fanny and do nothing?" [syn: buttocks, nates, arse, butt, backside, bum, buns, can, fundament, hindquarters, hind end, keister, posterior, prat, rear, rear end, rump, stern, seat, tail, tail end, tooshie, tush, bottom, behind, derriere, fanny, ass]

Definition of 'Stern'

From: GCIDE
  • Stern \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. [1913 Webster]
  • 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. [1913 Webster]
  • 3. Fig.: The post of management or direction. [1913 Webster]
  • And sit chiefest stern of public weal. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
  • 4. The hinder part of anything. --Spenser. [1913 Webster]
  • 5. The tail of an animal; -- now used only of the tail of a dog. [1913 Webster]
  • By the stern. (Naut.) See By the head, under By. [1913 Webster]

Definition of 'Stern'

From: GCIDE
  • Stern \Stern\, n. [AS. stearn a kind of bird. See Starling.] (Zool.) The black tern. [1913 Webster]

Definition of 'Stern'

From: GCIDE
  • Stern \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. [1913 Webster]
  • The sterne wind so loud gan to rout. --Chaucer. [1913 Webster]
  • I would outstare the sternest eyes that look. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
  • When that the poor have cried, Caesar hath wept; Ambition should be made of sterner stuff. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
  • Stern as tutors, and as uncles hard. --Dryden. [1913 Webster]
  • These barren rocks, your stern inheritance. --Wordsworth. [1913 Webster]
  • Syn: Gloomy; sullen; forbidding; strict; unkind; hard-hearted; unfeeling; cruel; pitiless. [1913 Webster]

Definition of 'Stern'

From: GCIDE
  • Stern \Stern\, a. Being in the stern, or being astern; as, the stern davits. [1913 Webster]
  • 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. [1913 Webster]