From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Astern \A*stern"\, adverb [Pref. a- + stern.] (Naut.)
1. In or at the hinder part of a ship; toward the hinder part, or stern; backward; as, to go astern.
2. Behind a ship; in the rear. ''A gale of wind right astern.'' --De Foe. ''Left this strait astern.'' --Drake.
{To bake astern}, to go stern foremost.
{To be astern of the reckoning}, to be behind the position given by the reckoning.
{To drop astern}, to fall or be left behind.
{To go astern}, to go backward, as from the action of currents or winds.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
astern
adverb
1: stern foremost or backward; "the steamer went astern at half speed"
2: at or near or toward the stern of a ship or tail of an airplane; "stow the luggage aft"; "ships with square sails sail fairly efficiently with the wind abaft"; "the captain looked astern to see what the fuss was about" [syn: {aft}, {abaft}] [ant: {fore}]
3: (of a ship or an airplane) behind; "we dropped her astern on the end of a seven-inch manilla, and she laid comfortably on the ebb tide"
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
25 Moby Thesaurus words for "astern": a rebours, a reculons, abaft, aft, after, against the grain, anticlockwise, arear, ass-backwards, away, back, backward, backwards, baft, counterclockwise, fore and aft, fro, hindward, hindwards, in reverse, rear, rearward, rearwards, retrad, widdershins
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