Stern bachelor meeting cook on vacation (4)
I believe the answer is:
back
'stern' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'bachelor meeting cook on vacation' is the wordplay.
'bachelor' becomes 'ba' (the qualification: Bachelor of Arts).
'meeting' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'on vacation' suggests removing the centre.
'cook' with its centre removed is 'ck'.
'ba'+'ck'='BACK'
(Other definitions for back that I've seen before include "Support - rear" , "Rear surface of the body" , "Support; footballer" , "Fashionable again" , "See 17" .)