strand 1
/strand/ , v.t.
1. to drive or leave (a ship, fish, etc.) aground or ashore: The receding tide stranded the whale.
2. (usually used in the passive) to bring into or leave in a helpless position: He was stranded in the middle of nowhere.
v.i.
3. to be driven or left ashore; run aground.
4. to be halted or struck by a difficult situation: He stranded in the middle of his speech.
n.
5. the land bordering the sea, a lake, or a river; shore; beach.
[ bef. 1000; ME (n.), OE; c. D strand, G Strand, ON strond; akin to STREW ]
strand 2
— strandless , adj.
/strand/ , n.
1. one of a number of fibers, threads, or yarns that are plaited or twisted together to form a rope, cord, or the like.
2. a similar part of a wire rope.
3. a rope made of such twisted or plaited fibers.
4. a fiber or filament, as in animal or plant tissue.
5. a thread or threadlike part of anything: the strands of a plot.
6. a tress of hair.
7. a string of pearls, beads, etc.
v.t.
8. to form (a rope, cable, etc.) by twisting strands together.
9. to break one or more strands of (a rope).
[ 1490-1500; orig. uncert. ]