(in shoemaking) a strip of leather set in a shoe at the heel before the lifts are attached.
British Dialect.
a strip or long slice.
a border or margin.
shoemaking a leather strip put in the heel of a shoe before the lifts are put on
dialect
a strip or margin; border
a strip of cloth; selvage
before 900; Middle English, Old English; cognate with Dutch, German rand border, margin
1960–65; from Afrikaans, after The Rand ( def. ) (Witwatersrand), a major gold mining area
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
In morning trading, shares were up 4.1% at 152.18 South African rand, taking their year-to-date gain to 7.7%.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 11, 2026
The South Africa-based telecommunications company—which is majority-owned by Vodafone Group VOD 1.43%increase; green up pointing triangle —raised its final dividend for the year ended March 31 by 21% to 4.05 rand a share.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 11, 2026
Until the early 1980s, the South African rand was stronger than the U.S. dollar.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 22, 2025
Around six years ago, it began offering outsourced services firms in the province 3,500 South African rand per month, as part of a subsidised training programme for around 4,500 people a year.
From BBC • Oct. 22, 2025
Even if I run out on an er- rand, he’ll be waiting for me, alone, when I come back.
From "The Queen of Water" by Laura Resau
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.
