STERNEST

Adjective

sternest

superlative form of stern: most stern

Anagrams

• netsters, testerns

Source: Wiktionary


STERN

Stern, n. Etym: [AS. stearn a kind of bird. See Starling.] (Zoöl.)

Definition: The black tern.

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

Definition: 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, Cæsar 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. Etym: [Icel. stjorn a steering, or a doubtful AS. steórn. *166. See Steer, v. t.]

1. The helm or tiller of a vessel or boat; also, the rudder. [Obs.] Chaucer.

2. (Naut.)

Definition: 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.

Definition: 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.stern wheeler.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



RESET




Word of the Day

9 April 2025

COMMISERATIVE

(adjective) feeling or expressing sympathy; “made commiserative clicking sounds with his tongue”- Kenneth Roberts


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Coffee Trivia

The Boston Tea Party helped popularize coffee in America. The hefty tea tax imposed on the colonies in 1773 resulted in America switching from tea to coffee. In the lead up to the Revolutionary War, it became patriotic to sip java instead of tea. The Civil War made the drink more pervasive. Coffee helped energize tired troops, and drinking it became an expression of freedom.

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