Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun The after part of the upper deck of a ship, usually reserved for officers.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun nautical The aft part of the upper deck of a ship; normally reserved for officers

Etymologies

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Examples

  • He stood on the section of the deck behind the gangway, in that ill-defined area that was called the quarterdeck, along with the others going on shore leave, sunlight and shadows from the masts and rigging falling across them.

    Wellspring of Chaos Modesitt, L. E. 2004

  • I think about Ahab on his ship, pacing the quarterdeck, possessed by and obsessed with the white whale; I think of Ishmael, in chapter forty-one, the white whale lurking in the depths, as he attempts to understand his complicated captain and his quest.

    History of a Suicide Jill Bialosky 2011

  • While younger men floundered, he had made his way up to a crag as briskly as he might have walked the quarterdeck.

    Simon Hoggart's week: Keeping ahead of the rhinos 2011

  • I think about Ahab on his ship, pacing the quarterdeck, possessed by and obsessed with the white whale; I think of Ishmael, in chapter forty-one, the white whale lurking in the depths, as he attempts to understand his complicated captain and his quest.

    History of a Suicide Jill Bialosky 2011

  • The anchor was broken out to a song of farewell from Lilolilo's singing boys on the quarterdeck, while we, in the big canoes and whaleboats, saw the first breeze fill the vessel's sails and the distance begin to widen.

    ON THE MAKALOA MAT 2010

  • He glanced at the quarterdeck of the Mirenda—and there was Jaspar Mendoza.

    WHEN THE HEAVENS FALL GILBERT MORRIS 2010

  • While we were engaged on the wall, a few fire-arrows had come over and been promptly stifled by the invalids, who were in tremendous trim, bawling orders to each other and striding about like Nelson on the quarterdeck.

    Isabelle Estelle Bruno 2010

  • As for Captain Markham, I must admit that I sometimes adopt this very pose when viewing the world from my own quarterdeck.

    Figures From the Past Walter Jon Williams 2010

  • The pirate captain suddenly thrust a heavy laptop at the quiet figure on the quarterdeck.

    Shakespeare Help Needed ebenstone 2008

  • As Burns scampered up the narrow stairs to the quarterdeck, the gunfire abruptly ended: Either Smith had run out of ammunition or she had heaved herself through the hole, and Smith, like Wilson, was a denizen of the living world no more.

    The Monstrumologist William James Henry 2009

Comments

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  • The captain stood on the quarterdeck,/The ice was in his eye;/"Overhaul, overhaul! Let your gibsheets fall,/And you'll put your boats to sea, brave boys..." -- "Greenland Whale Fisheries," traditional, arr. the Pogues, c. 1985

    February 6, 2007