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

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 ]