sternwheeler

[ sturn-hwee-ler, -wee- ]

/ ˈstɜrnˌʰwi lər, -ˌwi- /

a boat propelled by a paddle wheel at the stern.

Origin of sternwheeler

An Americanism dating back to 1850–55; sternwheel + -er¹

With our stern-wheeler we never felt that there was any danger, but our progress was exceedingly slow.

Up the Orinoco and down the Magdalena |H. J. Mozans
And if the outfit was gotten out of a wrecked Mississippi stern-wheeler, what boots it!

Little Journeys to the Homes of the Great, Volume 11 (of 14) |Elbert Hubbard
The engine-room crew of a Mississippi steamer varies as the boat is a side-wheeler or a stern-wheeler.

Old Times on the Upper Mississippi |George Byron Merrick
The bluff bows of the stern-wheeler had squelched into the soft brown mud, and the current had swept the boat alongside the bank.

A Desert Drama |A. Conan Doyle

His boat was a “stern-wheeler,” and is stated to have been capable of steaming five miles an hour.

A History of the Growth of the Steam-Engine |Robert H. Thurston

stern-wheeler

a vessel, esp a riverboat, propelled by a large paddle wheel at the stern Compare sidewheeler