Category:Estrange

Es*trange", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Estranged; p. pr. & vb. n. Estranging.] Etym: [OF. estrangier to remove, F. étranger, L. extraneare to treat as a stranger, from extraneus strange. See Strange.]

1. To withdraw; to withhold; hence, reflexively, to keep at a distance; to cease to be familiar and friendly with. We must estrange our belief from everything which is not clearly and distinctly evidenced. Glanvill. Had we. . . estranged ourselves from them in things indifferent. Hooker.

2. To divert from its original use or purpose, or from its former possessor; to alienate. They. . . have estranged this place, and have burned incense in it unto other gods. Jer. xix. 4.

3. To alienate the affections or confidence of; to turn from attachment to enmity or indifference. I do not know, to this hour, what it is that has estranged him from me. Pope. He. . . had pretended to be estranged from the Whigs, and had promised to act as a spy upon them. Macaulay.