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.
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Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
In 2024, the Court of Appeal overturned a lower Family Court decision to take three children away from their family based on hair strand tests.
From BBC • May 26, 2026
In December 2024 the most senior judge in the Family Court referred the issue of hair strand tests to the advisory Family Justice Council for urgent consideration, but it has yet to produce guidance.
From BBC • May 26, 2026
There’s another DNA strand provided by screenwriter Kolstad, who also invented “John Wick.”
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 17, 2026
With his 6-foot frame, blue eyes, and head of thick blond hair with not a strand out of place, he could be a hedge-fund whiz, or a boutique fitness instructor, or a visiting European aristocrat.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 13, 2026
Another strand of hair floated in front of Anya as she realized what it actually was.
From Anya and the Nightingale by Sofiya Pasternack
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.
