Word: strong Part of Speech: adj Etymology: From Middle English strong, strang, from Old English strang (“strong”), from Proto-West Germanic *strang (“severe, strict, rigorous, strong”), from Proto-Germanic *strangaz (“tight, strict, straight, strong”), from Proto-Indo-European *strengʰ- (“taut, stiff, tight”). Cognate with Scots strang (“strong”), Saterland Frisian strang, West Frisian string (“austere, strict, harsh, severe, stern, stark, tough”), Dutch streng (“strict, severe, tight”), German streng (“strict, severe, austere”), Danish and Norwegian streng (“strong, hard”), Faroese and Icelandic strangur (“strict”), Norwegian strang (“strong, harsh, bitter”), Swedish sträng, strang (“severe, strict, harsh”), Latin stringō (“tighten”). Related to strict and string. Pronunciation: /stɹɒŋ/, [st̠͡ɹ̠ɒŋ], [ʃt̠͡ɹ̠ɒŋ], /stɹæŋ/, /stɹɔŋ/ 1. Capable of producing great physical force. Example: a big strong man; Jake was tall and strong Example: The man was nearly drowned after a strong undercurrent swept him out to sea. 2. Capable of withstanding great physical force. Example: a strong foundation; good strong shoes Example: Was mich nicht umbringt, macht mich stärker. 3. Possessing power, might, or strength. Labels: broadly Example: A wise man is strong, yea a man of knowledge encreaseth strength. Example: Perhaps we grows very strong, stronger than Wraiths. Lord Smeagol? Gollum the Great? The Gollum! Eat fish every day, three times a day, fresh from the sea. 4. Determined; unyielding. Example: The young priests who lived here wore cassocks and birettas; their faces were fine and mild, yet really strong, like the rector's face; and in their intercourse with him and his wife they seemed to be brothers. Example: Ideas are eternal; they hang in the stars, and a man must be brave and strong enough to reach up to the stars and fetch down the fire from heaven and to carry the torch among men. 5. Highly stimulating to the senses. Example: a strong light; a strong taste 6. Having an offensive or intense odor or flavor. Example: a strong smell 7. Having a high concentration of an essential or active ingredient. Example: a strong cup of coffee; a strong medicine 8. Having a high alcoholic content. Labels: specifically Example: a strong drink Example: She gets up, and pours herself a strong one. - Eagles, Lying Eyes 9. Inflecting in a different manner than the one called weak, such as Germanic verbs which change vowels. Example: a strong verb 10. Of a form in which the accent is in the leftmost (first) slot allowed in the relevant paradigm, or reflecting an ancestral Proto-Indo-European form in which this was the case, as opposed to tending to shift to the right. Labels: Indo-European-studies, especially Example: Paradigmatic slots in which the accent and correlating e-grade are positioned further to the left of the word are traditionally termed strong, those with accent and e-grade further to the right, are called weak. In all nouns and verbs which show these alternations, the strong and the weak forms are predictable from the morphological category […]. Example: PIE strong stems were most frequently in the full grade (e-grade), less often in the o-grade (though more common in thematic nouns and stative verbs) and least often in the zero grade. 11. Of a form in which the accent is in the leftmost (first) slot allowed in the relevant paradigm, or reflecting an ancestral Proto-Indo-European form in which this was the case, as opposed to tending to shift to the right. Labels: Indo-European-studies, especially Example: Strong *dʰéh₁-mn̥, weak *dʰh₁-mén-. 12. Of a form in which the accent is in the leftmost (first) slot allowed in the relevant paradigm, or reflecting an ancestral Proto-Indo-European form in which this was the case, as opposed to tending to shift to the right. Labels: Indo-European-studies, especially Example: Strong *dʰéh₁- (e.g. *dʰéh₁m̥ (“I put”), *dʰéh₁oh₂ (“I would put”)), weak *dʰh₁- (e.g. *dʰh₁ént (“they all put”), active participle *dʰh₁ónts, *dʰh₁tó (“(he/she/it) is placed”), middle participle *dʰh₁m̥h₁nós). 13. That completely ionizes into anions and cations in a solution. Example: a strong acid; a strong base 14. Not easily subdued or taken. Example: a strong position 15. Having wealth or resources. Example: a strong economy 16. Impressive, good. Labels: US, slang Example: You're working with troubled youth in your off time? That’s strong! 17. Having a specified number of people or units. Example: The enemy's army force was five thousand strong. Example: Our armie will be forty thouſand ſtrong, When Tamburlain and braue Theridamas Haue met vs by the riuer Araris: And all conioin’d to meete the witleſſe King, That now is marching neere to Parthia. 18. Severe; very bad or intense. Example: Physicians may diagnosis influenza by a throat culture or blood test, which may be important if you have a particularly strong flu, if your doctor suspects pneumonia or a bacterial infection. 19. Having a wide range of logical consequences; widely applicable. (Often contrasted with a weak statement which it implies.) 20. Convincing. Example: […] but grounding him ſelfe vpon ſtrong reaſons, to wit, that he had not offended the Iewes, neither yet the Law, but that he was innocēt, and therefore that no iudge oght to geue hym in the hādes of his ennemies […]