Jump To:

• strand
  strand

  verb (used with object)

  to drive or leave (a ship, fish, etc.) aground or ashore.
• Strand
  Strand

  noun

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

strand

¹ American  

[strand] / strænd /

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.

strand ² American  

[strand] / strænd /

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.

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

4. a fiber or filament, as in animal or plant tissue.

   a single strand of messenger RNA.

5. a thread or threadlike part of anything.

   the strands of a plot.

6. a tress of hair.

7. 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).

Strand ³ American  

[strand] / strænd /

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.

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

---

strand ¹ British  

/ 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

3. a string of pearls or beads

4. 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

strand ² British  

/ 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

---

noun

1. a shore or beach

2. a foreign country

Strand ³ British  

/ strænd /

noun

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

---

Other Word Forms

• strandless
  adjective

---

Etymology

Origin of strand¹

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

Origin of strand²

First recorded in 1490–1500; origin uncertain

---

Explanation

A single hair, a noodle, even a line of thought — any of these things could be called a strand, a long thin length of something. The noun strand describes things that are long and thin like a rope, or a strand of spaghetti, hair, or thread. Strands are often twisted together to form thicker, stronger things like cables. As a verb, the meaning is very different: "to leave helpless," like unreliable cars that strand their drivers, or a snowstorm that strands people at airports.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

strand Strand

Scientists sequence the tumor to identify mutated proteins, which are also called neoantigens, and then create an mRNA strand using up to 34 of the neoantigens that they believe will produce the best immune response.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 21, 2026

In 2016, a boy was diagnosed with a strand of plague after handling a marmot in Russia’s Altai region.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 5, 2026

One strand was not genuine, according to the ruling: the Fordham Arrangement.

From BBC ● Sep. 29, 2026

Researchers heat the material and draw it into an extremely thin fiber, somewhat like producing a very fine strand of sugar, but with far greater precision.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 21, 2026

My hat came next; he drew it down over my brow, slipped a finger under the brim and tucked back a strand of hair, and settled the wool over the tips of my ears.

From "Bye Forever, I Guess" by Jodi Meadows

The quarterback mess has played a part - and what summed them up nicely was undrafted rookie Jack Strand replacing a struggling Cooper Rush, and duly threw a pick six.

From BBC ● Sep. 21, 2026

Known as 180 the Strand, the site was acquired in 2012 by Mark Wadhwa, a longtime partner of Jones’s.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026

Heisenberg: Strand Larsen is a decent centre forward, but, if we assume Mateta is first choice then the Norwegian will find gametime hard to come by.

From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026

Then we would probably go for a bike ride along the Strand.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 31, 2026

Mr Hooper said, 'This is the Strand, this is Trafalgar Square, this is the Mall, there is Buckingham Palace...’

From "I'm the King of the Castle" by Susan Hill

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---

Related Words

• fiber
• filament
• rope
• string

---