How to use astern in a sentence
13 example sentences · adverb, adjective, preposition
Astern means behind (a vessel); in the rear. Example: “If one ship is following another, the first is astern of the second.”
Examples of astern by meaning
adjectiveBehind a vessel; having a bearing of 180 degrees from ahead.
- If one ship is following another, the first is astern of the second.
- The galley fire was lighted; coffee was boiled; the sun shone brightly, and the ship astern was coming up fast.1901, W. Clark Russell, The Ship's Adventure, Westminster: Archibald Constable, page 304
- The steamer was more than ahead of us, just on our quarter as we say, and the light was more astern.1966, Peter Padfield, The Titanic and the Californian, page 233
prepositionBehind (a vessel); in the rear.
- I watched the soft folds of metallic satin rolling in ever widening furls astern the boat.1948, Roy Wall, The Contemplative Angler
More sentences with astern
- We romped along with the wind astern.From the entry romp
- The ship left a wake astern of her.From the entry astern of
- As the vessel passes a landmark, the landmark is said to be abeam. Once the vessel has passed the landmark, it falls abaft the beam, then it gradually falls astern.From the entry beam
- 'Go astern, go astern with both engines.2003, Richard Hough, Admirals in Collision, →ISBN, page 81. From the entry fore-bridge
- The southern tip of Taiwan is nearly astern of us.1976 [1975], Kuno Knöbl, translated by Rita Kimber and Robert Kimber, Tai Ki: To the Point of No Return, Little, Brown and Company, →ISBN…. From the entry Kao-hsiung
- The dinghy was trailing astern at the end of its painter, and Merrion looked at it as he passed.1944, Miles Burton, The Three Corpse Trick, chapter 5. From the entry parent
- The engines of the long graceful yacht were turning over quietly, the exhaust bubbling glutinously, a thread of blue vapour rising astern.1954, Ian Fleming, “Terror By The Sea”, in Live and Let Die, London: Pan Books, published 1957, page 233. From the entry glutinously
- The two main masts are aline amidships, while the two mizzen masts are astern and placed in line with the rudder post.1938, The China Journal - Volume 28, page 264. From the entry aline
- The old man did not touch the paddle, and he was unregardless of the lofty-sided steamer as the canoe slipped down the length of it into the darkness astern.1917, Jack London, Michael, Brother of Jerry. From the entry unregardless
Meaning of astern
- adverb Behind (a vessel); in the rear.
- adverb In the direction of the stern; backward (motion); to the rear.
- adverb At or toward the rear of a vessel.
Questions about astern in a sentence
- How do you use astern in a sentence?
- Astern is used as an adverb, adjective and preposition. For example: “If one ship is following another, the first is astern of the second.”
- What is a short sentence with astern?
- “'Go astern, go astern with both engines.”
- What does astern mean?
- Astern means behind (a vessel); in the rear.
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: astern (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Cite this page: “How to use astern in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/astern. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.