ˈstern-post Naut.
[f. stern n.3 + post n.1]
a. A more or less upright beam, rising from the after end of the keel of a boat and supporting the rudder; an analogous part in an aircraft (see quot. 1969).
| 1580 H. Smith in Hakluyt's Voy. (1599) I. 448 The William had her sterne post broken. 1627 Capt. Smith Sea Gram. ii. 2 The Sterne post is another great timber, which is let into the keele..somewhat sloping. 1753 Hanway Trav. (1762) I. iii. xxv. 107 The punishment..was to be nailed by the ear to the stern-post of a ship. 1805 Southey Madoc ii. xxv. 11 They..Lay down the keel, the stern-post rear, and fix The strong-curved timbers. 1873 Act 36 & 37 Vict. c. 85 §3 A scale of feet denoting her draught of water shall be marked on each side of her stem and of her stern post. 1931 Flight 10 Apr. 324/2 Cases have occurred of the raised flange on plate NA 507, which secures the sternpost to the top longeron, bending and cracking in way of the taper pin. 1939 C. H. L. Needham Aircraft Design II. ix. 157 Where tail-plane supporting members attach to the fin stern post, the resultant compressive load should be taken into account. 1969 Gloss. Aeronaut. & Astronaut. Terms (B.S.I.) iii. 5 Stern post, a single member terminating a fuselage, hull or float. 1979 D. B. Thurston Design for Flying xv. 233 The afterbody sternpost and deadrise angles requires for a stable hull are set forth... These data are based upon actual water handling characteristics of many seaplanes. |
† b. jocularly. The buttocks. Obs.
| 1810 Naval Chron. XXIV. 369 Come, Sir, bring him..along; point your sword in his stern-post. |
c. attrib., as sternpost-knee (= sternson), stern-post tub.
| 1845 J. Coulter Adv. in Pacific vii. 72 The other [end of the line]..is left hanging out of the sternpost tub. 1881 L. R. Hamersly Nav. Encycl., Sternpost-knee. |