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.

☞ 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's unabridged 1913