strand

1
[ strand ]
See synonyms for strand on Thesaurus.com
verb (used with object)
  1. to drive or leave (a ship, fish, etc.) aground or ashore: The receding tide stranded the whale.

  2. (usually used in the passive) to bring into or leave in a helpless position: He was stranded in the middle of nowhere.

verb (used without object)
  1. to be driven or left ashore; run aground.

  2. to be halted or struck by a difficult situation: He stranded in the middle of his speech.

noun
  1. the land bordering the sea, a lake, or a river; shore; beach.

Origin of strand

1
Firstbefore 1000; Middle English noun strond(e), strand(e), Old English strand; cognate with Dutch strand, German Strand, Old Norse strǫnd; akin to strew

Words Nearby strand

Other definitions for strand (2 of 3)

strand2
[ strand ]

noun
  1. one of a number of fibers, threads, or yarns that are plaited or twisted together to form a rope, cord, or the like.

  2. a similar part of a wire rope.

  1. a rope made of such twisted or plaited fibers.

  2. a fiber or filament, as in animal or plant tissue: a single strand of messenger RNA.

  3. a thread or threadlike part of anything: the strands of a plot.

  4. a tress of hair.

  5. a string of pearls, beads, etc.

verb (used with object)
  1. to form (a rope, cable, etc.) by twisting strands together.

  2. to break one or more strands of (a rope).

Origin of strand

2
First recorded in 1490–1500; origin uncertain

Other words from strand

  • strand·less, adjective

Other definitions for Strand (3 of 3)

Strand
[ strand ]

noun
  1. Mark, 1934–2014, U.S. poet, born in Canada: U.S. poet laureate 1990–91.

  2. Paul, 1890–1976, U.S. photographer and documentary-film producer.

  1. the, a street parallel to the Thames, in W central London, England: famous for hotels and theaters.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use strand in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for strand (1 of 3)

strand1

/ (strænd) /


verb
  1. to leave or drive (ships, fish, etc) aground or ashore or (of ships, fish, etc) to be left or driven ashore

  2. (tr; usually passive) to leave helpless, as without transport or money, etc

nounmainly poetic
  1. a shore or beach

  2. a foreign country

Origin of strand

1
Old English; related to Old Norse strönd side, Middle High German strant beach, Latin sternere to spread

British Dictionary definitions for strand (2 of 3)

strand2

/ (strænd) /


noun
  1. a set of or one of the individual fibres or threads of string, wire, etc, that form a rope, cable, etc

  2. a single length of string, hair, wool, wire, etc

  1. a string of pearls or beads

  2. a constituent element in a complex whole: one strand of her argument

verb
  1. (tr) to form (a rope, cable, etc) by winding strands together

Origin of strand

2
C15: of uncertain origin

British Dictionary definitions for Strand (3 of 3)

Strand

/ (strænd) /


noun
  1. the Strand a street in W central London, parallel to the Thames: famous for its hotels and theatres

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012