sternway

[ sturn-wey ]

noun
  1. Nautical. the movement of a vessel backward, or stern foremost.

Origin of sternway

1
First recorded in 1760–70; stern2 + way1

Words Nearby sternway

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

How to use sternway in a sentence

  • Suddenly, glancing up at the dim cloud of sails above, I saw that we were aback and making sternway.

    Richard Carvel, Complete | Winston Churchill
  • When sufficient sternway had been gathered the engines were put to full speed ahead to check her.

    The Blocking of Zeebrugge | Alfred F. B. Carpenter
  • As far as could be seen, there was now nothing for'ard to prevent the submarine gathering sternway.

    A Sub and a Submarine | Percy F. Westerman
  • He stopped his ship, and then backed water, making sternway to the Hartford, so as to stop her also.

    Hero Tales From American History | Henry Cabot Lodge, and Theodore Roosevelt
  • The chief asks for the engines to be stopped; sternway is putting purchase on the binding pressure of the rudder.

    Merchantmen-at-Arms | David W. Bone

British Dictionary definitions for sternway

sternway

/ (ˈstɜːnˌweɪ) /


noun
  1. nautical movement of a vessel sternforemost

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