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

Example Sentences

Hundreds of flights have been cancelled across Europe, with thousands left stranded at airports in Paris and Amsterdam.

From BBC

One hole in the fabric of full autonomy, he observes, became clear Dec. 20, when a power blackout blanketing San Francisco stranded much of Waymo’s robotaxi fleet on the streets.

From Los Angeles Times

More than 400 tourists stranded on a Yemeni island after flights were halted due to fighting on the mainland will be able to fly out starting on Wednesday, a Yemeni airport official told AFP.

From Barron's

Rail traffic through the Channel Tunnel had only resumed on New Year's Eve, after an electricity failure stranded thousands of passengers and even trapped some for a night on a powerless train.

From Barron's

Earlier this month, IndiGo cancelled thousands of flights due to "poor planning of pilot rosters," leaving tens of thousands of passengers stranded for hours or even days.

From BBC

Related Words

• fiber
• filament
• rope
• string