stranger
    n 1: anyone who does not belong in the environment in which they
         are found [syn: stranger, alien, unknown] [ant:
         acquaintance, friend]
    2: an individual that one is not acquainted with [ant:
       acquaintance, friend]

Strange \Strange\, a. [Compar. Stranger; superl. Strangest.]
   [OE. estrange, F. ['e]trange, fr. L. extraneus that is
   without, external, foreign, fr. extra on the outside. See
   Extra, and cf. Estrange, Extraneous.]
   1. Belonging to another country; foreign. "To seek strange
      strands." --Chaucer.
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            One of the strange queen's lords.     --Shak.
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            I do not contemn the knowledge of strange and divers
            tongues.                              --Ascham.
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   2. Of or pertaining to others; not one's own; not pertaining
      to one's self; not domestic.
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            So she, impatient her own faults to see,
            Turns from herself, and in strange things delights.
                                                  --Sir J.
                                                  Davies.
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   3. Not before known, heard, or seen; new.
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            Here is the hand and seal of the duke; you know the
            character, I doubt not; and the signet is not
            strange to you.                       --Shak.
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   4. Not according to the common way; novel; odd; unusual;
      irregular; extraordinary; unnatural; queer. "He is sick of
      a strange fever." --Shak.
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            Sated at length, erelong I might perceive
            Strange alteration in me.             --Milton.
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   5. Reserved; distant in deportment. --Shak.
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            She may be strange and shy at first, but will soon
            learn to love thee.                   --Hawthorne.
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   6. Backward; slow. [Obs.]
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            Who, loving the effect, would not be strange
            In favoring the cause.                --Beau. & Fl.
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   7. Not familiar; unaccustomed; inexperienced.
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            In thy fortunes am unlearned and strange. --Shak.
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   Note: Strange is often used as an exclamation.
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               Strange! what extremes should thus preserve the
               snow
               High on the Alps, or in deep caves below.
                                                  --Waller.
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   Strange sail (Naut.), an unknown vessel.

   Strange woman (Script.), a harlot. --Prov. v. 3.

   To make it strange.
      (a) To assume ignorance, suspicion, or alarm, concerning
          it. --Shak.
      (b) To make it a matter of difficulty. [Obs.] --Chaucer.
          

   To make strange, To make one's self strange.
      (a) To profess ignorance or astonishment.
      (b) To assume the character of a stranger. --Gen. xlii. 7.
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   Syn: Foreign; new; outlandish; wonderful; astonishing;
        marvelous; unusual; odd; uncommon; irregular; queer;
        eccentric.
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Stranger \Stran"ger\, n. [OF. estrangier, F. ['e]tranger. See
   Strange.]
   1. One who is strange, foreign, or unknown. Specifically: 
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      (a) One who comes from a foreign land; a foreigner.
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                I am a most poor woman and a stranger,
                Born out of your dominions.       --Shak.
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      (b) One whose home is at a distance from the place where
          he is, but in the same country.
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      (c) One who is unknown or unacquainted; as, the gentleman
          is a stranger to me; hence, one not admitted to
          communication, fellowship, or acquaintance.
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                Melons on beds of ice are taught to bear,
                And strangers to the sun yet ripen here.
                                                  --Granville.
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                My child is yet a stranger in the world. --Shak.
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                I was no stranger to the original. --Dryden.
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   2. One not belonging to the family or household; a guest; a
      visitor.
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            To honor and receive
            Our heavenly stranger.                --Milton.
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   3. (Law) One not privy or party an act, contract, or title; a
      mere intruder or intermeddler; one who interferes without
      right; as, actual possession of land gives a good title
      against a stranger having no title; as to strangers, a
      mortgage is considered merely as a pledge; a mere stranger
      to the levy.
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Stranger \Stran"ger\, v. t.
   To estrange; to alienate. [Obs.] --Shak.
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Stranger
   This word generally denotes a person from a foreign land
   residing in Palestine. Such persons enjoyed many privileges in
   common with the Jews, but still were separate from them. The
   relation of the Jews to strangers was regulated by special laws
   (Deut. 23:3; 24:14-21; 25:5; 26:10-13). A special signification
   is also sometimes attached to this word. In Gen. 23:4 it denotes
   one resident in a foreign land; Ex. 23:9, one who is not a Jew;
   Num. 3:10, one who is not of the family of Aaron; Ps. 69:8, an
   alien or an unknown person. The Jews were allowed to purchase
   strangers as slaves (Lev. 25:44, 45), and to take usury from
   them (Deut. 23:20).
   

STRANGER, persons, contracts. This word has several significations. 1. A 
person born out of the United States; but in this sense the term alien is 
more properly applied, until he becomes naturalized. 2. A person who is not 
privy to an act or contract; example, he who is a stranger to the issue, 
shall not take advantage of the verdict. Bro. Ab. Record, pl. 3; Vin. Ab. 
h.t. pl. 1 and vide Com. Dig. Abatement, H 54. 
     2. When a man undertakes to do a thing, and a stranger interrupts him, 
this is no excuse. Com. Dig. Condition, L 14. When a party undertakes that a 
stranger shall do a certain thing, he becomes liable as soon as the stranger 
refuses to perform it. Bac. Ab. Conditions, Q 4.