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Webster 1913 Edition


Stranger

Stran′ger

,
Noun.
[OF.
estrangier
, F.
étranger
. See
Strange
.]
1.
One who is strange, foreign, or unknown.
Specifically: –
(a)
One who comes from a foreign land; a foreigner.
I am a most poor woman and a
stranger
,
Born out of your dominions.
Shakespeare
(b)
One whose home is at a distance from the place where he is, but in the same country.
(c)
One who is unknown or unacquainted;
as, the gentleman is a
stranger
to me
; hence, one not admitted to communication, fellowship, or acquaintance.
Melons on beds of ice are taught to bear,
And
strangers
to the sun yet ripen here.
Granville.
My child is yet a
stranger
in the world.
Shakespeare
I was no
stranger
to the original.
Dryden.
2.
One not belonging to the family or household; a guest; a visitor.
To honor and receive
Our heavenly
stranger
.
Milton.
3.
(Law)
One not privy or party an act, contract, or title; a mere intruder or intermeddler; one who interferes without right;
as, actual possession of land gives a good title against a
stranger
having no title; as to
strangers
, a mortgage is considered merely as a pledge; a mere
stranger
to the levy
.

Stran′ger

,
Verb.
T.
To estrange; to alienate.
[Obs.]
Shak.

Webster 1828 Edition


Stranger

STRANGER

,
Noun.
1.
A foreigner; one who belongs to another country. Paris and London are visited by strangers from all the countries of Europe.
2.
One of another town, city, state or province in the same country. The Commencements in American colleges are frequented by multitudes of strangers from the neighboring towns and states.
3.
One unknown. The gentleman is a stranger to me.
4.
One unacquainted.
My child is yet a stranger to the world.
I was no stranger to the original.
5.
A guest; a visitor.
6.
One not admitted to any communication or fellowship.
Melons on beds of ice are taught to bear, and strangers to the sun yet ripen here.
7.
In law, one not privy or party to an act.

STRANGER

, v.t To estrange; to alienate. [Not in use.]

Definition 2024


stranger

stranger

English

Adjective

stranger

  1. comparative form of strange: more strange
    • Truth is stranger than fiction. (English proverb)

Derived terms

Related terms

Noun

stranger (plural strangers)

  1. A person whom one does not know; a person who is neither a friend nor an acquaintance.
    That gentleman is a stranger to me. Children are taught not to talk to strangers.
    • 1893, Walter Besant, The Ivory Gate, chapter III:
      In former days every tavern of repute kept such a room for its own select circle, a club, or society, of habitués, who met every evening, for a pipe and a cheerful glass. [] Strangers might enter the room, but they were made to feel that they were there on sufferance: they were received with distance and suspicion.
  2. An outsider or foreigner.
  3. A newcomer.
    • 1918, W. B. Maxwell, chapter 7, in The Mirror and the Lamp:
      […] St. Bede's at this period of its history was perhaps the poorest and most miserable parish in the East End of London. Close-packed, crushed by the buttressed height of the railway viaduct, rendered airless by huge walls of factories, it at once banished lively interest from a stranger's mind and left only a dull oppression of the spirit.
  4. (humorous) One who has not been seen for a long time.
    Hello, stranger!
  5. (obsolete) One not belonging to the family or household; a guest; a visitor.
    • John Milton (1608-1674)
      To honour and receive / Our heavenly stranger.
  6. (law) One not privy or party to an act, contract, or title; a mere intruder or intermeddler; one who interferes without right.
    Actual possession of land gives a good title against a stranger having no title.

Synonyms

Antonyms

Derived terms

Translations

See also

Verb

stranger (third-person singular simple present strangers, present participle strangering, simple past and past participle strangered)

  1. (obsolete, transitive) To estrange; to alienate.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Shakespeare to this entry?)

Anagrams