from stem to stern

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from stem to stern

1. (nautical) Over the full length of a ship or boat, from the front end of the vessel to the back end.
   • c. 1607–1608, William Shakeſpeare, The Late, And much admired Play, Called Pericles, Prince of Tyre. […], London: Imprinted at London for Henry Goſſon,  […], published 1609, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene i]:

     My father, as nurse said, did never fear, / But cried ‘Good seaman!’ to the sailors […] / Never was waves nor wind more violent; / And from the ladder-tackle washes off / A canvas-climber. ‘Ha!’ says one, ‘wilt out?’ / And with a dropping industry they skip / From stem to stern.

   • 1836 October, Washington Irving, chapter XVI, in Astoria, or Anecdotes of an Enterprise beyond the Rocky Mountains. […], volume I, Philadelphia, Pa.: [Henry Charles] Carey, [Isaac] Lea, & Blanchard, →OCLC, page 192:

     The very name of a Sioux became a watchword of terror. Not an elk, a wolf, or any other animal, could appear on the hills, but the boats resounded with exclamations from stem to stern, "voila les Sioux!" "voila les Sioux!" (there are the Sioux! there are the Sioux!)

   • 1961 December 1, “Armed Forces: The Mightiest Ever”, in Time:

     From stem to stern, the [U.S.S.] Enterprise measures 1,040 ft.—roughly the height of the 102-story Empire State Building.

   • 2006 December 28, Robert Drury, Tom Clavin, “How Lieutenant Ford Saved His Ship”, in New York Times, retrieved 23 Aug. 2012:

     [T]he Monterey was ablaze from stem to stern as Lieutenant Ford stood near the helm, awaiting his orders.

2. (idiomatic, by extension) From front to back; from one end to the other end.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:completely

   • 1861, Charles Reade, chapter 58, in The Cloister and the Hearth:

     [T]he horse was the vainer brute of the two; he was far worse beflounced, bebonneted, and bemantled, than any fair lady. . . . [T]his poor animal from stem to stern was swamped in finery.

   • 1945 August 27, “Science: War on Insects”, in Time:

     Michigan's Mackinac Island, the Lake Huron resort where automobiles are barred, was sprayed from stem to stern with DDT.

   • 2005 Oct. 12, Marian Burros, "Take My Steak. Please." (restaurant review), New York Times (retrieved 23 Aug. 2012):

     Weighing in at four pounds, the lobster was rubbery and tasteless from stem to stern.

• “from stem to stern”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.