stern sheets

plural nounNautical.

the after part of an open boat, occupied by the person in command or by passengers.

Origin of stern sheets

First recorded in 1475–85

Words Nearby stern sheets

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use stern sheets in a sentence

The captain's white gig having been manned, he seated himself in the stern sheets, a large flag trailing in the water behind him.
Skipper Worse | Alexander Lange Kielland
The coxswain could scarce suppress a grin as the instructor stepped into the stern sheets.
The Dreadnought of the Air | Percy F. Westerman
His clothes were wet and the stern-sheets were covered with spray.
Legends and Tales | Bret Harte
The captain himself is in the stern-sheets, tiller-lines in hand.
The Land of Fire | Mayne Reid
It was she, my wife Bathsheba, laid there by the stern-sheets on a spare-sail, with a bundle of oilskins to cushion her.
Wandering Heath | Sir Arthur Thomas Quiller-Couch

British Dictionary definitions for stern sheets

stern sheets

pl n

nautical the part of an open boat near the stern

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

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