Abaft

  • 1abaft — abaft, aft, astern are nautical terms meaning behind or to or at the rear (of). Abaft and aft are applied to objects or their positions in a ship. Abaft (opposed to afore) commonly suggests position relatively nearer the stern or rear part of the …

    New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • 2Abaft — A*baft ([.a]*b[.a]ft ), prep. [Pref. a on + OE. baft, baften, biaften, AS. be[ae]ftan; be by + [ae]ftan behind. See {After}, {Aft}, {By}.] (Naut.) Behind; toward the stern from; as, abaft the wheelhouse. [1913 Webster] {Abaft the beam}. See under …

    The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • 3Abaft — A*baft , adv. (Naut.) Toward the stern; aft; as, to go abaft. [1913 Webster] …

    The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • 4abaft — [ə baft′, əbäft′] adv. [ME o baft < OE on, ON + bæftan < be, BY + æftan, AFT1] at or toward the stern or rear of a ship; aft prep. Naut. to the rear of; behind [located just abaft the bridge] …

    English World dictionary

  • 5abaft — (adv.) 1590s, from Middle English on baft (O.E. on bæftan) backwards. The second component is itself a compound of be by (see BY (Cf. by)) and æftan aft (see AFT (Cf. aft)). The word has been saved by the sailors (the stern being the after part… …

    Etymology dictionary

  • 6abaft — [adj] to the rear astern, back, behind, rearward; concepts 586,820 …

    New thesaurus

  • 7abaft — ► ADVERB & PREPOSITION Nautical ▪ in or behind the stern of a ship. ORIGIN from archaic baft «in the rear» …

    English terms dictionary

  • 8Abaft — (chimney). (If not qualified, abaft means behind the mid point of a ship or group of ships .) Note that unqualified or in the abaft the beam form, abaft does not necessarily refer to a point actually on the ship; it may refer to a point some… …

    Wikipedia

  • 9abaft — /euh baft , euh bahft /, Naut. prep. 1. to the rear of; aft of: the fife rail abaft the mainmast. adv. 2. in the direction of the stern; astern; aft. [1225 75; ME on baft, abaft, equiv. to A 1 and on ON + baft, OE baeftan contr. of be + aeftan.… …

    Universalium

  • 10abaft — 1. preposition Behind; toward the stern relative to some other object or position; aft of abaft the wheelhouse. 2. adverb On the …

    Wiktionary