stran

n. [ Probably fr. D. streen a skein; akin to G. strähne a skein, lock of hair, strand of a rope. ] One of the twists, or strings, as of fibers, wires, etc., of which a rope is composed. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To drift, or be driven, on shore to run aground; as, the ship stranded at high water. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Stranded; p. pr. & vb. n. Stranding. ] To drive on a strand; hence, to run aground; as, to strand a ship. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To break a strand of (a rope). [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ See Strong. ] Strong. [ Obs. or Prov. Eng. & Scot. ] Halliwell. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. Strangely. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Most strange, but yet most truly, will I speak. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. 1. To be estranged or alienated. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To wonder; to be astonished. [ Obs. ] Glanvill. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Compar. Stranger superl. Strangest ] [ OE. estrange, F. étrange, fr. L. extraneus that is without, external, foreign, fr. extra on the outside. See Extra, and cf. Estrange, Extraneous. ] 1. Belonging to another country; foreign. “To seek strange strands.” Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

One of the strange queen's lords. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

I do not contemn the knowledge of strange and divers tongues. Ascham. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Of or pertaining to others; not one's own; not pertaining to one's self; not domestic. [ 1913 Webster ]

So she, impatient her own faults to see,
Turns from herself, and in strange things delights. Sir J. Davies. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Not before known, heard, or seen; new. [ 1913 Webster ]

Here is the hand and seal of the duke; you know the character, I doubt not; and the signet is not strange to you. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Not according to the common way; novel; odd; unusual; irregular; extraordinary; unnatural; queer. “He is sick of a strange fever.” Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

Sated at length, erelong I might perceive
Strange alteration in me. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. Reserved; distant in deportment. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

She may be strange and shy at first, but will soon learn to love thee. Hawthorne. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. Backward; slow. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Who, loving the effect, would not be strange
In favoring the cause. Beau. & Fl. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. Not familiar; unaccustomed; inexperienced. [ 1913 Webster ]

In thy fortunes am unlearned and strange. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ Strange is often used as an exclamation. [ 1913 Webster ]

Strange! what extremes should thus preserve the snow
High on the Alps, or in deep caves below. Waller. [ 1913 Webster ]

Strange sail (Naut.), an unknown vessel. --
Strange woman (Script.), a harlot. Prov. v. 3. --
To make it strange. (a) To assume ignorance, suspicion, or alarm, concerning it. Shak. (b) To make it a matter of difficulty. [ Obs. ] Chaucer. --
To make strange,
To make one's self strange. (a) To profess ignorance or astonishment. (b) To assume the character of a stranger. Gen. xlii. 7. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Foreign; new; outlandish; wonderful; astonishing; marvelous; unusual; odd; uncommon; irregular; queer; eccentric. [ 1913 Webster ]