<B>strand</B> (1), verb, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>v.t., v.i. </I> <B>1. </B>to run aground; drive on the shore. <BR> <I>Ex. The ship was stranded on the rocks.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>(Figurative.) to bring or come into a helpless position. <BR> <I>Ex. He was stranded miles from home with no money.</I> <DD><I>noun </I> shore; land bordering a sea, lake, or river. <BR> <I>Ex. wandering on a foreign strand (Scott).</I> (SYN) beach, coast. </DL>
<A NAME="strand">
<B>strand</B> (2), noun, verb.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>one of the threads, strings, or wires that are twisted together to form a rope, cord, line, cable, or electric conductor. <BR> <I>Ex. This is a rope of three strands.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>one of the threads or strips of a woven or braided material. <DD><B> 3. </B>a string, thread, or tress. <BR> <I>Ex. a strand of beads or pearls, a strand of hair.</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>a fiber in animal or plant tissue. <DD><I>v.t. </I> <B>1. </B>to form (a rope) by the twisting of strands. <DD><B> 2. </B>to break one or more of the strands of (a rope). </DL>
<A NAME="strand">
<B>strand</B> (3), noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>(Scottish.) a channel or gutter. <DD><B> 2. </B>(Scottish and English Dialect.) a stream, brook, or rivulet. </DL>
<A NAME="stranded">
<B>stranded</B> (1), adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> aground; helpless. <BR> <I>Ex. a stranded vessel, (Figurative.) stranded travelers searching for shelter.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="stranded">
<B>stranded</B> (2), adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> made of strands; having a certain number of strands. <BR> <I>Ex. a three-stranded rope.</I> noun <B>strandedness.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="stranding">
<B>stranding, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the act or process of being stranded. </DL>
<A NAME="strandline">
<B>strand line,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Geology.) the line of contact between a lake or ocean and the land. </DL>
<A NAME="strandlooper">
<B>strandlooper, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a Bushman living on the coast in South Africa and working largely along the shore. </DL>
<A NAME="strange">
<B>strange, </B>adjective, <B>stranger,</B> <B>strangest,</B> adverb.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> <B>1. </B>unusual; odd; queer; peculiar. <BR> <I>Ex. a strange accident. What a strange experience! She wears strange, old-fashioned clothing. 'Tis strange--but true; for truth is always strange; Stranger than fiction (Byron).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>not known, seen, or heard of before; not familiar. <BR> <I>Ex. strange faces, a strange language. She is moving to a strange place. A strange cat is on our steps. The custom was strange to them.</I> (SYN) unfamiliar, new, novel. <DD><B> 3. </B>not used (to); unaccustomed (to); inexperienced (at). <BR> <I>Ex. He is strange to the work but will soon learn.</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>out of place; not at home. <BR> <I>Ex. a strange dog walking down a street. The poor child felt strange in the palace.</I> <DD><B> 5. </B>distant or cold; reserved. <DD><B> 6. </B>(Archaic.) foreign; alien. <DD><I>adv. </I> in a strange manner. adv. <B>strangely.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="strangeness">
<B>strangeness, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the quality or condition of being strange. <DD><B> 2. </B>(Nuclear Physics.) a property of certain elementary particles, used in explaining their relatively slow rate of decay. (Abbr:) S (no period). </DL>
<A NAME="strangeparticle">
<B>strange particle,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Nuclear Physics.) any of the heavier, unstable elementary particles, comprising the heavy mesons and the hyperons, so called because their relatively long life appeared to be inconsistent with existing atomic theories. </DL>
<A NAME="strangequark">
<B>strange quark,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a quark having a charge of -1/3 and a spin of +1/2. <BR> <I>Ex. When Murray Gell-Mann and George Zweig of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena formulated the quark theory, a third quark was required. It was dubbed a strange quark because the particles that contained it acted in a strange way (Robert H. March).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="stranger">
<B>stranger, </B>noun, adjective, verb.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a person not known, seen, or heard of before. <BR> <I>Ex. She is a stranger to us.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>a person or thing new to a place; newcomer. <BR> <I>Ex. He is a stranger in New York.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>a person who is out of place or not at home in something. <BR> <I>Ex. He is no stranger to hard work.</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>visitor; guest. <BR> <I>Ex. ... thy stranger that is within thy gates (Exodus 20:10).</I> <DD><B> 5. </B>a person from another country; foreigner; alien. <BR> <I>Ex. The king received the strangers with kindness.</I> <DD><B> 6. </B>(Law.) a person who has no legal interest or standing in an action or transaction. <DD><I>adj. </I> <B>1. </B>that is a stranger. <BR> <I>Ex. a stranger prince or knight, a stranger gentleman.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>foreign; alien. <BR> <I>Ex. stranger troops, astranger nation.</I> <DD><I>v.t. </I> (Obsolete.) to make a stranger of; alienate. <BR> <I>Ex. Dow'rd with our curse, and stranger'd with our oath. Take her or leave her (Shakespeare).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="strangle">
<B>strangle, </B>verb, <B>-gled,</B> <B>-gling,</B> noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>v.t. </I> <B>1. </B>to kill by squeezing the throat to stop the breath. <BR> <I>Ex. Hercules strangled a snake with each hand.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>to choke; suffocate. <BR> <I>Ex. His high collar seemed to be strangling him.</I> (SYN) throttle, stifle. <DD><B> 3. </B>(Figurative.) to choke down; suppress; keep back. <BR> <I>Ex. to strangle a yawn, to strangle a nation's economy by too many taxes. He strangled an impulse to cough.</I> <DD><I>v.i. </I> to be strangled; choke. <BR> <I>Ex. She almost strangled on a piece of meat that caught in her throat.</I> <DD><I>noun </I> <B>strangles,</B> an acute, infectious disease as of horses and mules caused by a bacterium, and characterized by fever and inflammation of the mucous membranes. noun <B>strangler.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="stranglehold">
<B>stranglehold, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a wrestling hold for stopping an opponent's breath. <DD><B> 2. </B>(Figurative:) <BR> <I>Ex. The processes of maturity had me in a grim stranglehold ... and the joys of the intellectual life were beginning to overwhelm me (Punch).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="stranglerfig">
<B>strangler fig,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a fig tree of Florida and the Bahama Islands that begins its growth as a parasite on another tree, reaches its top, and then gradually strangles the existing tree in a mass of roots, finally standing in place of the original tree. </DL>
<A NAME="stranglertree">
<B>strangler tree,</B> <B>=clusia.</B></DL>
<A NAME="strangles">
<B>strangles, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> See under <B>strangle.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="strangulate">
<B>strangulate, </B>verb, <B>-lated,</B> <B>-lating.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><I>v.t. </I> <B>1. </B>(Medicine.) to constrict or compress so as to stop the circulation in, or hinder the action of. <BR> <I>Ex. The danger of abdominal hernia is that the abdominal muscles may contract, strangulating ... the part of the bowel that protrudes (Hyman S. Rubinstein).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>to strangle; choke. <DD><I>v.i. </I> (Medicine.) to become strangulated. </DL>
<A NAME="strangulated">
<B>strangulated, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>(Medicine.) compressed or constricted so as to prevent circulation or suppress function. <BR> <I>Ex. In a strangulated hernia, the circulation in the protruded part is arrested.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>(Botany.) irregularly contracted and expanded. <BR> <I>Ex. a strangulated stem.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>strangled; choked. <BR> <I>Ex. He sings in such a fiercely strangulated manner as to torment the music (Atlantic).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="strangulation">
<B>strangulation, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the act of strangling or condition of being strangled. <BR> <I>Ex. death by strangulation. (Figurative.) Today vast urban areas ... suffer from traffic strangulation (Wall Street Journal).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>(Medicine.) constriction of a bodily organ, duct, or the like so as to stop circulation or the passage of fluids. </DL>
<A NAME="strangury">
<B>strangury, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a slow, painful emission of urine, drop by drop. </DL>
<A NAME="strap">
<B>strap, </B>noun, verb, <B>strapped,</B> <B>strapping.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a narrow strip of leather or other material that bends easily. <BR> <I>Ex. the straps of a wheel or pulley, to beat someone with a strap.</I> (SYN) thong. <DD><B> 2. </B>a narrow, flat band or strip of cloth. <BR> <I>Ex. The general wore straps on the shoulders of his uniform.</I> <DD> See also <B>shoulder strap.</B> <DD><B> 3. </B>a narrow strip for fastening things together or in position, or for holding together timbers, parts of machinery, or the like. <BR> <I>Ex. Put a strap around the trunk. He had a strap around his books. The box was strengthened by straps of steel.</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>a narrow strip of leather to sharpen razors on; strop. <DD><B> 5. </B>a looped band suspended from a bar, as in a bus, train, or car, for passengers to hold on to, to steady themselves. <DD><B> 6. </B>a looped band attached to a boot to help pull it on. <DD><I>v.t. </I> <B>1. </B>to fasten, bind, or secure with a strap or straps. <BR> <I>Ex. We strapped the trunk.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>to beat with a strap. <DD><B> 3. </B>to sharpen (a razor or knife) on a strap or strop. <DD><B> 4. </B>to dress and bandage. adj. <B>straplike.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="straphang">
<B>straphang, </B>intransitive verb, <B>-hung,</B> <B>-hanging.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Informal.) to be a straphanger. <BR> <I>Ex. You cannot straphang in an airliner as you can on a London bus (New Scientist).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="straphanger">
<B>straphanger, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Informal.) a passenger in a bus, subway, or train, who cannot get a seat and stands holding on to a strap, rod, or other support. </DL>
<A NAME="straphinge">
<B>strap hinge,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a hinge with a long band of metal, usually on each side, by which it is secured to a door and a post. </DL>
<A NAME="strapless">
<B>strapless, </B>adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> having no strap or straps; not fitted with straps. <BR> <I>Ex. a strapless gown.</I> <DD><I>noun </I> a strapless garment or undergarment. </DL>
<A NAME="strapon">
<B>strap-on, </B>adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> attached to a space vehicle or engine for additional thrust. <BR> <I>Ex. The vehicle seen on television appeared to have a two-stage core with four strap-on boosters (New Scientist).</I> <DD><I>noun </I> a strap-on booster or engine. </DL>
