Definition of "quarterdeck" []

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

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "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."
• "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."
• "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."