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strand¹

  • /ˈstɹænd/ Canada, US, UK
  • [ˈstɹ̝̊ʷænd] ~ [ˈst̠ɹ̠̊˔ʷænd] Canada, US, UK
  • /ˈstɹand/ British, Northern England, Southern
  • [ˈstɹ̝̊ʷand] British, Northern England, Southern
  • /ˈstɾänd/ Scotland, Wales
  • [ˈstɾänd] Scotland, Wales
  • /ˈstɹæːnd/
  • [ˈstɹ̝̊ʷæːnd]
  • /ˈstɹɛnd/ New Zealand
  • [ˈstɹ̝̊ʷɛnd] New Zealand
  • /ˈstɹeə̯nd/
  • [ˈstɹ̝̊ʷeə̯nd] ~ [ˈstɹ̝̊ʷeənd]
  • /ˈstɹɛə̯nd/
  • [ˈstɹ̝̊ʷɛə̯nd] ~ [ˈstɹ̝̊ʷɛə̯nd]
  • /ˈstɹeːnd/ Australia
  • [ˈstɹ̝̊ʷeːnd] Australia

Rhymes with -ænd

Where it comes from

* From Middle English strand, strond, from Old English strand (“strand, sea-shore, shore”), from Proto-West Germanic *strand, from Proto-Germanic *strandō (“edge, rim, shore”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)trAnt- (“strand, border, field”), from Proto-Indo-European *sterh₃- (“to broaden, spread out”). Cognate with West Frisian strân, German Strand (“beach”), Danish, Dutch, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish strand (“beach”), Faroese strond (“beach”), Icelandic strönd (“beach”).

* (street): Perhaps from the similarity of shape.

noun strands · strond

  1. The shore or beach of the sea or ocean. Grand Strand
  2. archaic, dialectal, poetic The shore or beach of a lake or river.
  3. A small brook or rivulet.
  4. Northern England, Scotland, UK, dialectal A passage for water; gutter.
  5. A street.

verb strands · stranding · stranded

  1. transitive To run aground; to beach.

    Similar: beach

  2. figuratively, transitive To leave (someone) in a difficult situation; to abandon or desert.
  3. figuratively, transitive To cause the third out of an inning to be made, leaving a runner on base. Jones pops up; that's going to strand a pair.
  4. transitive To leave an element (e.g., an adposition) without its complement adjacent to it. We first note that wh-movement can freely strand prepositions in Icelandic, as in the other Scandinavian languages.

Similar: abandon, desert

strand²

  • /ˈstɹænd/ Canada, US, UK
  • [ˈstɹ̝̊ʷænd] ~ [ˈst̠ɹ̠̊˔ʷænd] Canada, US, UK
  • /ˈstɹand/ British, Northern England, Southern
  • [ˈstɹ̝̊ʷand] British, Northern England, Southern
  • /ˈstɾänd/ Scotland, Wales
  • [ˈstɾänd] Scotland, Wales
  • /ˈstɹæːnd/
  • [ˈstɹ̝̊ʷæːnd]
  • /ˈstɹɛnd/ New Zealand
  • [ˈstɹ̝̊ʷɛnd] New Zealand
  • /ˈstɹeə̯nd/
  • [ˈstɹ̝̊ʷeə̯nd] ~ [ˈstɹ̝̊ʷeənd]
  • /ˈstɹɛə̯nd/
  • [ˈstɹ̝̊ʷɛə̯nd] ~ [ˈstɹ̝̊ʷɛə̯nd]
  • /ˈstɹeːnd/ Australia
  • [ˈstɹ̝̊ʷeːnd] Australia

Rhymes with -ænd

Where it comes from

Origin uncertain. Cognate with Scots stran, strawn, strand (“strand”). Perhaps the same as strand ("rivulet, stream, gutter"; see Etymology 1 above); or from Middle English *stran, from Old French estran (“a rope, cord”), from Middle High German stren, strene (“skein, strand”), from Old High German streno, from Proto-West Germanic *strenō, from Proto-Germanic *strinô (“strip, strand”), from Proto-Indo-European *strēy-, *ster- (“strip, line, streak, ray, stripe, row”); related to Dutch streng (“skein, hank of thread, strand, string”), German Strähne (“skein, hank of thread, strand of hair”). Compare also Old High German stranga (“strand of hair”), modern German Strang (“strand, thread, cord”).

noun strands

  1. Each of the strings which, twisted together, make up a yarn, rope or cord.
  2. A string.
  3. An individual length of any fine, string-like substance. strand of spaghetti
  4. A group of wires, usually twisted or braided.
  5. A series of programmes on a particular theme or linked subject. By 1985, the children's strand had been renamed Children's BBC (CBBC by the mid-1990s), which continued to show animation among other programming in a dedicated time slot.
  6. figuratively An element in a composite whole; a sequence of linked events or facts; a logical thread. strand of truth
  7. A nucleotide chain.
  8. Philippines, formal A specialization of a senior high school track.
  9. Philippines, informal Synonym of track.

    Similar: track

verb strands · stranding · stranded

  1. transitive To break a strand of (a rope).
  2. transitive To form by uniting strands.

Strand³

  • /stɹænd/ UK
  • /stɹand/ British, Southern, Standard

Rhymes with -ænd

Where it comes from

So called after the north strand (i.e. shore) of the river Thames.

proper noun Strands

  1. countable, uncountable A surname.
  2. countable, uncountable, as "the Strand" A street in Westminster running from Trafalgar Square to Fleet Street.
  3. countable, uncountable An area surrounding the street in central London, Greater London, England.
  4. countable, uncountable A municipality of Rogaland, Norway.

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: chain, string, filament, fibril, maroon, beach, shore, coast, stream, plank, wick, fuse, wire, volet, lanyard, pillar

verb

Similar: abandon, desert

Translations

Every language

noun beach

Españolplaya
中文海滨 hǎibīn
Portuguêspraia
Françaisgrève
DeutschStrand
Italianospiaggia, battigia, bagnasciuga
Românăplajă, țărm
Русскийбе́рег béreg, пля́ж pljáž

verb to leave someone in a difficult situation

Españolabandonar
Portuguêsabandonar
Françaisabandonner
Deutschim Stich lassen
Italianoabbandonare
Русскийбросить brositʹ, бросить на произвол судьбы brositʹ na proizvol sudʹby, оставить в беде ostavitʹ v bede, подставить podstavitʹ

verb to run aground

Españolvarar
Portuguêsencalhar
Françaiséchouer
Italianoincagliarsi, spiaggiare
Русскийсесть на мель sestʹ na melʹ, высадиться vysaditʹsja

verb (grammar) to leave an element without its object

中文懸空 /悬空 xuánkōng
Françaiséchouer

noun each of strings that make up yarn, rope or cord

Españolhebra, filástica
हिन्दीतागा tāgā, धागा dhāgā
Françaisbrin, toron
Italianofilo
Românăfir
Русскийжи́ла žíla, нить nitʹ
עבריתגְּדִיל gdil

noun string

Españolhebra, estoperol
हिन्दीतागा tāgā, धागा dhāgā
Portuguêscordel
Françaiscordelette
DeutschStrang
Italianofilo, filamento
Românășirag

noun individual length of string-like substance

Españolpequeño mechón, pelo, brizna, brinza
中文綹 /绺 liǔ, 一綹頭髮 /一绺头发 yī liǔ tóufa
हिन्दीधागा dhāgā, रेशा reśā
Portuguêsmadeixa, mecha
Françaismèche
DeutschSträhne
Italianociocca
Românășuviță
Русскийпря́дь prjádʹ

noun genetics: nucleotide chain

Españolcadena, hebra
中文链 liàn
Portuguêsfita
Françaisbrin
DeutschStrang
Italianofilamento
Русскийцепь cepʹ, цепочка cepočka

verb to form by uniting strands

Русскийсвязывать svjazyvatʹ

Talk about this word

Cite this
MLA

"strand." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/strand. Accessed 5 Nov. 2026.

APA

strand. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/strand

Chicago

"strand." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 5, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/strand.

BibTeX
@misc{strand_2026,
  title = {strand},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/strand},
  urldate = {2026-11-05}
}