to drive or leave (a ship, fish, etc.) aground or ashore.
The receding tide stranded the whale.
(usually used in the passive) to bring into or leave in a helpless position.
He was stranded in the middle of nowhere.
to be driven or left ashore; run aground.
to be halted or struck by a difficult situation.
He stranded in the middle of his speech.
one of a number of fibers, threads, or yarns that are plaited or twisted together to form a rope, cord, or the like.
a similar part of a wire rope.
a rope made of such twisted or plaited fibers.
a fiber or filament, as in animal or plant tissue.
a single strand of messenger RNA.
a thread or threadlike part of anything.
the strands of a plot.
a tress of hair.
a string of pearls, beads, etc.
to form (a rope, cable, etc.) by twisting strands together.
to break one or more strands of (a rope).
Mark, 1934–2014, U.S. poet, born in Canada: U.S. poet laureate 1990–91.
Paul, 1890–1976, U.S. photographer and documentary-film producer.
the, a street parallel to the Thames, in W central London, England: famous for hotels and theaters.
a set of or one of the individual fibres or threads of string, wire, etc, that form a rope, cable, etc
a single length of string, hair, wool, wire, etc
a string of pearls or beads
a constituent element in a complex whole
one strand of her argument
to leave or drive (ships, fish, etc) aground or ashore or (of ships, fish, etc) to be left or driven ashore
(tr; usually passive) to leave helpless, as without transport or money, etc
a shore or beach
a foreign country
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
First recorded in 1490–1500; origin uncertain
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.
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Direct measurements of DNA strand breaks supported those findings.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 24, 2026
The information from 2018 gave detectives a second strand of evidence, and grounds to monitor every keystroke that Greer made on police computers.
From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026
At the summit, the discipline that got you up the mountain is the very thing that can strand you on it.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 16, 2026
Signing celebrity athletes from popular sports like basketball has become a key strand of that expansion strategy, boosting credibility abroad while appealing to the many NBA fans in the domestic market.
From Barron's ● Jul. 3, 2026
She eventually decided on a filagree headdress she would wear atop a turban —and a long strand of hand-carved carnelian beads, not necessarily for the costume.
From "The Red Car to Hollywood" by Jennie Liu
“Just because you’re using AI doesn’t mean it’s going to automate your job,” said Google economist Scott Strand, one of the researchers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026
Last year, Silver Strand State Beach, next to where the SEALs drill, had unsafe fecal-bacteria levels on 265 days, according to San Diego County.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 4, 2026
For Jorgen Strand Larsen, it seemed for a while it was a case of the latter.
From BBC ● Apr. 30, 2026
If Strand Larsen take the momentum and confidence from his goal then Palace have an impressive forward line that other sides remaining in the Conference League cannot compare to.
From BBC ● Apr. 30, 2026
Everybody was on their way to the movies--the Paramount or the Astor or the Strand or the Capitol or one of those crazy places.
From "The Catcher in the Rye" by J. D. Salinger
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
