stringer

American  

[string-er] / ˈstrɪŋ ər /

noun

1. a person or thing that strings.

2. a long horizontal timber connecting upright posts.

3. Architecture. string.

4. Civil Engineering. a longitudinal bridge girder for supporting part of a deck or railroad track between bents or piers.

5. a longitudinal reinforcement in the fuselage or wing of an airplane.

6. Also called string correspondent.  Journalism. a part-time newspaper correspondent covering a local area for a paper published elsewhere.

   The Los Angeles paper has a correspondent in San Francisco but only a stringer in Seattle.

7. a stout string, rope, etc., strung strung through the gills and mouth of newly caught fish, so that they may be carried or put back in the water to keep them alive or fresh.

8. a contestant, player, or other person ranked according to skill or accomplishment (used in combination).

   Most of the conductors at the opera house were third-stringers.

9. Mining. a small vein or seam of ore, coal, etc.

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stringer British  

/ ˈstrɪŋə /

noun

1. architect

   1. a long horizontal beam that is used for structural purposes

   2. another name for stringboard

2. nautical a longitudinal structural brace for strengthening the hull of a vessel

3. a journalist retained by a newspaper or news service on a part-time basis to cover a particular town or area

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Other Word Forms

• restringer noun

Etymology

Origin of stringer

late Middle English word dating back to 1375–1425; string, -er ¹

Example Sentences

She started her career as a stringer for the Chicago Tribune, covering local government in the city’s northern suburbs during the 2009 recession.

From The Wall Street Journal

She previously covered corporate governance and financial regulation as an intern reporter at Bloomberg Law and reported on crime as a metro stringer at the New York Times.

From The Wall Street Journal

The man in his 50s was discovered inside his white Toyota sedan in a parking structure along Century Boulevard near LAX, according to footage broadcast by RMG News, a stringer news service.

From Los Angeles Times

“Make it staff,” Faas said—meaning a member of AP, not a lowly stringer.

From The Wall Street Journal

RFA laid off its stringers in Myanmar a day before a devastating March earthquake.

From Barron's

Related Words

• author
• biographer
• columnist
• correspondent
• critic
• dramatist
• editor
• essayist
• journalist
• novelist
• poet
• reporter
• screenwriter