starboard

[stahr-berd, -bawrd, -bohrd]

noun

the right-hand side of or direction from a vessel or aircraft, facing forward.

adjective

of or pertaining or located to the starboard.

adverb

toward the right side.

verb (used with or without object)

to turn (the helm) to starboard.

Origin of starboard

before 900; Middle English sterbord (noun), Old English stēorbord, equivalent to stēor steering (see steer¹) + bord side (see board)

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for starboard

Contemporary Examples of starboard

So not only will the GOP have control in the Senate, it will move the center of gravity on Capitol Hill hard to starboard.
The Democrats’ Black Hole—and What They Can Do About It
Michael Tomasky
December 31, 2014
Correction: The original article stated that Starboard Strategic Inc. had undertaken the Internet media buy for the NRA.
A Tom Cotton Ad on Grindr?
Ben Jacobs
October 29, 2014
After it has been uprighted, sponsons will be welded to the starboard side that has been underwater for a year.
Risky Rescue: A Year After It Sank, Raising the Costa Concordia
Barbie Latza Nadeau
January 13, 2013
The helmsman, who did not speak English or Italian fluently, responded, “Hard to Starboard?”
Costa Concordia’s Captain’s Culpability in Crash and Deaths Weighed by Judge
Barbie Latza Nadeau
October 16, 2012
Then it shut down all the thrusters on the starboard side, leaving the 24-foot Deepsea Challenger spinning in a circle.
James Cameron Plans Next Dive After Surfacing From Ocean Abyss
Jacqui Goddard
March 27, 2012

Historical Examples of starboard

He ran and jumped into the sea, just forward of the starboard lower-studdingsail-boom.
Ned Myers
James Fenimore Cooper
Should I range, up on the larboard quarter, do you lie, on the starboard.
Micah Clarke
Arthur Conan Doyle
The American rushed to the wheel, jerked it to the starboard.
The Cruise of the Dry Dock
T. S. Stribling
Hold fast the long gun, there, and unship the starboard ports.
The Pirate and The Three Cutters
Frederick Marryat
She turned so that she could bring her starboard guns into action, and they did so feebly.
The Story of the Great War, Volume II (of VIII)
Various

British Dictionary definitions for starboard

starboard

noun

the right side of an aeroplane or vessel when facing the nose or bowCompare port 2

adjective

relating to or on the starboard

verb

to turn or be turned towards the starboard

Word Origin for starboard

Old English stēorbord, literally: steering side, from stēor steering paddle + bord side; see steer 1, board; from the fact that boats were formerly steered by a paddle held over the right-hand side

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for starboard

Old English steorbord, literally "side on which a vessel was steered," from steor- "rudder, steering paddle" (see steer (v.)) + bord "ship's side" (see board (n.2)). Cf. Old Norse stjornborði, Low German stürbord, German Steuerbord.

Early Germanic peoples' boats were propelled and steered by a paddle on the right side. French tribord (Old French estribord), Italian stribordo are Germanic loan-words.