sternwheeler

[sturn-hwee-ler, -wee-]

noun

a boat propelled by a paddle wheel at the stern.

Origin of sternwheeler

An Americanism dating back to 1850–55; sternwheel + -er¹

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for stern-wheeler

Historical Examples of stern-wheeler

The engine-room crew of a Mississippi steamer varies as the boat is a side-wheeler or a stern-wheeler.
Old Times on the Upper Mississippi
George Byron Merrick
The stern-wheeler has two engines, but they are both coupled to the same shaft, by a crank at each end.
Old Times on the Upper Mississippi
George Byron Merrick
Up this crooked stream it was the problem to force the largest boat that had ever navigated it, and a stern-wheeler at that.
Old Times on the Upper Mississippi
George Byron Merrick
And if the outfit was gotten out of a wrecked Mississippi stern-wheeler, what boots it!
Little Journeys to the Homes of the Great, Volume 11 (of 14)
Elbert Hubbard
So there the matter rested when Robert Ingersoll was waiting for the stern-wheeler to reload.
Little Journeys to the Homes of the Great, Volume 7
Elbert Hubbard

British Dictionary definitions for stern-wheeler

stern-wheeler

noun

a vessel, esp a riverboat, propelled by a large paddle wheel at the sternCompare sidewheeler

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