stern sheets

plural noun

, Nautical.

the after part of an open boat, occupied by the person in command or by passengers.

stern sheets

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First recorded in 1475–85

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The captain's white gig having been manned, he seated himself in the stern sheets, a large flag trailing in the water behind him.

The coxswain could scarce suppress a grin as the instructor stepped into the stern sheets.

His clothes were wet and the stern-sheets were covered with spray.

The captain himself is in the stern-sheets, tiller-lines in hand.

It was she, my wife Bathsheba, laid there by the stern-sheets on a spare-sail, with a bundle of oilskins to cushion her.

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