Definitions:

1. at or near or toward the stern of a ship or tail of an airplane adverb
   • Just before we went down, I saw a light to the aft and I thought we'd better go aft and check it out, but the skipper gave the order to go a stern, so we had to go astern.
2. behind, of a ship or an airplane adverb
   • Just before we went down, I saw a light to the aft and I thought we'd better go aft and check it out, but the skipper gave the order to go a stern, so we had to go astern.
3. stern foremost or backward adverb
   • Just before we went down, I saw a light to the aft and I thought we'd better go aft and check it out, but the skipper gave the order to go a stern, so we had to go astern.

Synonyms:

• abaft
• aft

NearBy Words:

• asternal