Strong (?), a.
[Compar. Stronger (?); superl.
Strongest (?).]
[AS. strang, strong; akin to D. & G. streng strict, rigorous, OHG. strengi strong, brave, harsh, Icel. strangr strong, severe, Dan. streng, Sw. sträng strict, severe. Cf. Strength, Stretch, String.]
1. Having active physical power, or great physical power to act;
having a power of exerting great bodily force; vigorous.
That our oxen may be strong to labor.
Ps. cxliv. 14.
Orses the strong to greater strength must yield.
Dryden.
2. Having passive physical power; having ability to bear or endure; firm; hale; sound; robust; as, a
strong constitution; strong health.
3. Solid; tough; not easily broken or injured; able to withstand violence; able to sustain attacks; not easily subdued or taken; as, a
strong beam; a strong rock; a strong fortress or town.
4. Having great military or naval force; powerful; as, a strong army or fleet; a nation strong at sea.
5. Having great wealth, means, or resources; as, a
strong house, or company of
merchants.
6. Reaching a certain degree or limit in respect to strength or numbers; as, an army ten thousand strong.
7. Moving with rapidity or force; violent; forcible; impetuous; as, a strong current of water or wind; the wind was strong from the northeast; a strong tide.
8. Adapted to make a deep or effectual impression on the mind or imagination; striking or superior of the kind; powerful; forcible; cogent; as, a
strong argument;
strong reasons; strong evidence; a strong example; strong language.
9. Ardent; eager; zealous; earnestly engaged; as, a
strong partisan;
a strong Whig or Tory.
Her
mother, ever strong against that match.
Shak. 10. Having
virtues of great efficacy; or, having a particular quality in a great degree; as, a
strong powder or tincture; a strong decoction; strong tea or coffee.
11. Full of spirit; containing a large proportion of alcohol; intoxicating; as, strong liquors.
12.
Affecting any sense powerfully; as, strong light, colors, etc.;
a strong flavor of onions; a strong scent.
13. Solid; nourishing; as, strong meat. Heb. v. 12.
14. Well established; firm; not easily overthrown or altered; as, a strong custom; a strong belief.
15. Violent; vehement; earnest; ardent.
He had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears.
Heb. v. 7. 16. Having great force, vigor, power, or the
like, as the
mind, intellect, or any faculty; as, a
man of a strong mind, memory, judgment, or imagination.
I was
stronger in prophecy
than in criticism.
Dryden.
17. Vigorous; effective; forcible; powerful.
Like her sweet voice is thy harmonious song,
As high, as sweet, as easy, and as
strong.
E. Smith.
18. (Stock Exchange) Tending to
higher prices; rising; as, a strong market.
19. (Gram.) (a)
Pertaining to, or designating,
a verb which forms its preterit (imperfect) by a variation in the root vowel, and the past participle (usually) by the addition of -en (with or without a change of the
root vowel); as in the verbs
strive, strove, striven;
break, broke,
broken; drink,
drank, drunk.
Opposed to weak, or regular. See Weak. (b) Applied to forms in Anglo-Saxon, etc., which retain the old declensional endings.
In the Teutonic languages the vowel stems have held the original endings most firmly, and are called strong; the stems in -n are called weak other constant stems conform, or are irregular. F. A. March.
Strong conjugation
(Gram.), the conjugation of a strong verb; -- called also old, or irregular, conjugation, and distinguished from the weak, or
regular, conjugation.
&fist; Strong is often used in the formation of self- explaining compounds; as,
strong-backed, strong-based, strong-bodied, strong-colored, strong-fisted, strong-handed, strong-ribbed, strong-smelling, strong-voiced, etc.
Syn. -- Vigorous;
powerful; stout; solid; firm; hardy; muscular; forcible; cogent; valid. See Robust.
Hear it pronounced