adv. [ Pref. a- + stern. ] (Naut.) 1. In or at the hinder part of a ship; toward the hinder part, or stern; backward; as, to go astern. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Behind a ship; in the rear. “A gale of wind right astern.” De Foe. “Left this strait astern.” Drake. [ 1913 Webster ]

To bake astern, to go stern foremost. --
To be astern of the reckoning, to be behind the position given by the reckoning. --
To drop astern, to fall or be left behind. --
To go astern, to go backward, as from the action of currents or winds. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Pref. a- not + sternal. ] (Anat.) Not sternal; -- said of ribs which do not join the sternum. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. cisterne, OF. cisterne, F. cisterne, fr. L. cisterna, fr. cista box, chest. See Cist, and cf. chest. ] 1. An artificial reservoir or tank for holding water, beer, or other liquids. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A natural reservoir; a hollow place containing water. “The wide cisterns of the lakes.” Blackmore. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. to cause to be confused; confuse emotionally; to dismay.
Syn. -- confuse, flurry, disconcert, put off, bewilder, bemuse, discombobulate, throw. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. [ L. consternatio, fr. consternare to overome, perplex, an accessory form of consternere to throw down, prostrate; con + sternere to spread out, throw down: cf. F. consternation. See Stratum. ] Amazement or horror that confounds the faculties, and incapacitates for reflection; terror, combined with amazement; dismay. [ 1913 Webster ]

The chiefs around,
In silence wrapped, in consternation drowned.
Attend the stern reply. Pope.

Syn. -- Alarm; fright; amazement; astonishment; surprise; panic; perturbation. See Alarm. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ AS. eástern. ] 1. Situated or dwelling in the east; oriental; as, an eastern gate; Eastern countries. [ 1913 Webster ]

Eastern churches first did Christ embrace. Stirling. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Going toward the east, or in the direction of east; as, an eastern voyage. [ 1913 Webster ]

. That portion of the Christian church which prevails in the countries once comprised in the Eastern Roman Empire and the countries converted to Christianity by missionaries from them. Its full official title is The Orthodox Catholic Apostolic Eastern Church. It became estranged from the Western, or Roman, Church over the question of papal supremacy and the doctrine of the filioque, and a separation, begun in the latter part of the 9th century, became final in 1054. The Eastern Church consists of twelve (thirteen if the Bulgarian Church be included) mutually independent churches (including among these the Hellenic Church, or Church of Greece, and the Russian Church), using the vernacular (or some ancient form of it) in divine service and varying in many points of detail, but standing in full communion with each other and united as equals in a great federation. The highest five authorities are the patriarch of Constantinople, or ecumenical patriarch (whose position is not one of supremacy, but of precedence), the patriarch of Alexandria, the patriarch of Jerusalem, the patriarch of Antioch, and the Holy Synod of Russia. The Eastern Church accepts the first seven ecumenical councils (and is hence styled only schismatic, not heretical, by the Roman Catholic Church), has as its creed the Niceno-Constantinopolitan (without the later addition of the filioque, which, with the doctrine it represents, the church decisively rejects), baptizes infants with trine immersion, makes confirmation follow immediately upon baptism, administers the Communion in both kinds (using leavened bread) and to infants as well as adults, permits its secular clergy to marry before ordination and to keep their wives afterward, but not to marry a second time, selects its bishops from the monastic clergy only, recognizes the offices of bishop, priest, and deacon as the three necessary degrees of orders, venerates relics and icons, and has an elaborate ritual. See also Greek Church, under Greek. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. an inhabitant of an eastern area; especially of the eastern U. S. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

a. Most eastern. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Endo- + sternum. ] (Zoöl.) The part of each apodeme derived from the intersternal membrane in Crustacea and insects. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n.; pl. Entosterna [ NL. See Ento-, and Sternum. ] (Anat.) See Entoplastron. -- En`to*ster"nal a. [1913 Webster]

a. (Anat. & Zoöl.) Of or pertaining to the episternum. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n.; pl. Episterna [ NL. See Epi-, and Sternum. ] 1. (Anat.) (a) A median bone connected with the sternum, in many vertebrates; the interclavicle. (b) Same as Epiplastron. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Zoöl.) One of the lateral pieces next to the sternum in the thorax of insects. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } a. [ L. hesternus; akin to heri yesterday. ] Pertaining to yesterday. [ Obs. ] See Yester, a. Ld. Lytton. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Hyo- + ternal. ] (Anat.) (a) Between the hyoid bone and the sternum, or pertaining to them; infrahyoid; as, the hyosternal region of the neck. (b) Pertaining to the hyosternum of turtles. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ Hyo- + sternum. ] (Anat.) See Hyoplastron. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n.; pl. L. Hyposterna E. Hyposternums [ Pref. hypo- + sternum. ] (Anat.) See Hypoplastron.

a. [ Infra + sternal. ] (Anat.) Below the sternum; as, the infrasternal depression, or pit of the stomach. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. (Zool.) Between the sternal; -- said of certain membranes or parts of insects and crustaceans. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. latus broad + E. sternal. ] (Zool.) Having a broad breastbone, or sternum; -- said of anthropoid apes. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. (Anat.) Of or pertaining to the mesosternum. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ Meso- + sternum. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. (Anat.) The middle portion, or body, of the sternum. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Zool.) The ventral piece of the middle segment of the thorax in insects. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Of or pertaining to the metasternum. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ Pref. meta- + sternum. ] 1. (Anat.) The most posterior element of the sternum; the ensiform process; xiphisternum. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Zool.) The ventral plate of the third or last segment of the thorax of insects. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. Of or pertaining to the Midwest region of the U. S., generally including Ohio; Indiana; Illinois; Iowa; Missouri; Kansas; Nebraska; and sometimes Michigan; Wisconsin; Minnesota; as, a midwestern city; midwestern accent. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

a. Of or pertaining to the northeast; northeasterly. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Of, pertaining to, or being in, the northwest; in a direction toward the northwest; coming from the northwest; northwesterly; as, a northwestern course. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. (Anat.) Of or pertaining to the omosternum. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Omo- + sternum. ] (Anat.) (a) The anterior element of the sternum which projects forward from between the clavicles in many batrachians and is usually tipped with cartilage. (b) In many mammals, an interarticular cartilage, or bone, between the sternum and the clavicle. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Of. pasturon, F. pâturon, fr. OF. pasture a tether, for beasts while pasturing; prop., a pasturing. See Pasture. ] 1. The part of the foot of the horse, and allied animals, between the fetlock and the coffin joint. See Illust. of Horse. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ The upper bone, or phalanx, of the foot is called the great pastern bone; the second, the small pastern bone; and the third, in the hoof, the coffin bone. [ 1913 Webster ]

Pastern joint, the joint in the hoof of the horse, and allied animals, between the great and small pastern bones. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A shackle for horses while pasturing. Knight. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A patten. [ Obs. ] Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

[ See 1st Pink. ] (Naut.) See Chebacco, and 1st Pink. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ See 1st Pink. ] (Naut.) Having a very narrow stern; -- said of a vessel. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OF. posterne, posterle, F. poterne, fr. L. posterula, fr. posterus coming after. See Posterior. ] 1. Originally, a back door or gate; a private entrance; hence, any small door or gate. [ 1913 Webster ]

He by a privy postern took his flight. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

Out at the postern, by the abbey wall. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Fort.) A subterraneous passage communicating between the parade and the main ditch, or between the ditches and the interior of the outworks. Mahan. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Back; being behind; private. “The postern door.” Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

n., n., n., n., n. Same as Preoral, Prepubis, Prescapula, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ NL. ] (Anat.) The anterior segment of the sternum; the manubrium. -- Pre*ster"nal a. [1913 Webster]

n. [ F. See Prostration. ] Dejection; depression. [ Obs. ] Wiseman. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ NL. See Pro- and Sternum. ] (Zool.) The ventral plate of the prothorax of an insect. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Of or pertaining to the southeast; southeasterly. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Of or pertaining to the southwest; southwesterly; as, to sail a southwestern course. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ AS. stearn a kind of bird. See Starling. ] (Zool.) The black tern. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Compar. Sterner superl. Sternest. ] [ OE. sterne, sturne, AS. styrne; cf. D. stuurish stern, Sw. stursk refractory. √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 ]

n. [ Icel. stjōrn 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. [ 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 ]

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 ]

n. Stern. [ R. ] Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. (Anat.) Of or pertaining to the sternum; in the region of the sternum. [ 1913 Webster ]

Sternal ribs. See the Note under Rib, n., 1. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ So named after Count Kaspar Sternberg of Prague. ] (Min.) A sulphide of silver and iron, occurring in soft flexible laminae varying in color from brown to black. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n.; pl. Sternebrae [ NL., fr. sternum + -bra of vertebra. ] (Anat.) One of the segments of the sternum. -- Ster"ne*bral a. [1913 Webster]

a. Having a stern of a particular shape; -- used in composition; as, square-sterned. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ See 3d Stern. ] A director. [ Obs. & R. ] Dr. R. Clerke. [ 1913 Webster ]