orphan
IPA: ˈɔrfʌn
noun
- A person, especially a minor, both or (rarely) one of whose parents have died.
- A person, especially a minor, whose parents have permanently abandoned them.
- A young animal with no mother.
- (figuratively) Anything that is unsupported, as by its source, provider or caretaker, by reason of the supporter's demise or decision to abandon.
- (typography) A single line of type, beginning a paragraph, at the bottom of a column or page.
- (computing) Any unreferenced object.
verb
- (transitive) To deprive of parents (used almost exclusively in the passive)
- (transitive, computing) To make unavailable, as by removing the last remaining pointer or reference to.
adjective
- Deprived of parents (also orphaned).
- (by extension, figuratively) Remaining after the removal of some form of support.
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Examples of "orphan" in Sentences
- He was an orphan.
- The child is an orphan.
- He felt piteous towards orphans.
- The most worrisome problem is the orphan status.
- The term is vaguely the opposite of the gauge orphan.
- Hew is an orphan and has a dream of helping the orphans.
- The lead paragraph contradicts the definition of orphan.
- Currently the page National Aeronautic Laboratory is orphaned.
- He is a banker in charge of the affairs of the Baudelaire orphans.
- It was his fervent desire to help all the orphans and the poor of the world.
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