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• r  stern foremost or backward
  the steamer went astern at half speed
• r  at or near or toward the stern of a ship or tail of an airplane
  the captain looked astern to see what the fuss was about
• r  (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

• The Greer picked up the U-boat on her detecting apparatus, followed it, keeping astern.
• As the Isle of Wight fell astern, and she glided majestically past the coast of England, the Queen was not only steaming for New York but out of an all but vanished agean age .
• With its net loss of 16 ships, the Navy would appear to be sailing full speed astern in its effort to build a 600-ship fleet.

• aft
• abaft

• fore

News & Articles

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• Pacers admit to goal of securing No. 1 seed for playoffs
  The Pacers are off to a perfect 7-0 start after Saturday night’s win over the Nets, and the reason for it may have more than a little to do with how things ended for the team last season. Indiana pushed the eventual champion Heat to seven games in the astern Conference Finals, before ultimately being…
  Nov. 10, 2013 - NBC Sports: ProBasketballTalk

Quotes

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• Thomas Jefferson in Edge
  In a letter to John Adams in 1816, Thomas Jefferson writes: "I steer my bark with Hope in the head, leaving Fear astern."
• Charles Dickens in Telegraph.co.uk
  I have dropped astern,wrote Dickens anxiously to a friend half-way through Our Mutual Friend, "instead of going ahead."