maroon 1
/meuh roohn"/ , adj.
1. dark brownish-red.
2. Chiefly Brit.
a. a loudly exploding firework consisting of a cardboard container filled with gunpowder.
b. a similar firework used as a danger or warning signal, as by railway brakemen.
[ 1585-95; marron lit., chestnut, MF marrone ), perh. ult. deriv. of pre-L * marr- stone ]
maroon 2
/meuh roohn"/ , v.t.
1. to put ashore and abandon on a desolate island or coast by way of punishment or the like, as was done by buccaneers.
2. to place in an isolated and often dangerous position: The rising floodwaters marooned us on top of the house.
3. to abandon and leave without aid or resources: Having lost all his money, he was marooned in the strange city.
n.
4. ( often cap ) any of a group of blacks, descended from fugitive slaves of the 17th and 18th centuries, living in the West Indies and Guiana, esp. in mountainous areas.
5. a person who is marooned: Robinson Crusoe lived for years as a maroon.
[ 1660-70; mar ( r ) on, appar. cimarrón wild (see CIMARRON); first used in reference to domestic animals that escaped into the woods, later to fugitive slaves ]