Category:Strong

Strong, a. [compar. Stronger; superl. Strongest.] Etym: [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)

Defn: 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.

Note: 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.