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. strang 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, ∨ irregular, conjugation, and distinguished from the weak, ∨ regular, conjugation.
⇒ 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.
© Webster 1913.