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• 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.

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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.

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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.

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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

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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

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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

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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

The Aztecs’ language, a strand of Nahuatl, is still spoken by over one million indigenous people in rural villages, while many Aztec traditions quietly persisted.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026

The next inning, Snell worked around a leadoff hit — a blooper into shallow right field that speedy Tyler Tolbert stretched into a double — and stolen base to strand Tolbert at third.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2026

Direct measurements of DNA strand breaks supported those findings.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 24, 2026

Another key strand of Burnham's campaigning strategy has been connecting with and organising grassroots social media activists.

From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026

“I don’t know,” Katherine asked, fiddling with a strand of her hair.

From "Found" by Margaret Peterson Haddix

Now 13, he plays for Strand Chess Club in east Belfast and has represented Ireland through all his age groups.

From BBC ● Sep. 11, 2026

The St. Clement, which has 90 rooms and 15 suites in addition to the penthouse, occupies the Thames-facing part of a nine-story brutalist building erected on the Strand in the 1970s.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026

As the van arrived outside the court building, at around 10:00 BST, Grzyb was able to flee and ran off down Red Cross Street towards the Strand.

From BBC ● Aug. 1, 2026

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

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 31, 2026

Following some brief and, as I was later to observe, characteristically tense small talk with Rosy, Maurice and I walked down the Strand and across to Choy’s Restaurant in Soho.

From "Double Helix" by James D. Watson

Related Words

• fiber
• filament
• rope
• string