ORPHAN

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does orphan mean? 

• ORPHAN (noun)
  The noun ORPHAN has 4 senses:

1. a child who has lost both parents

2. someone or something who lacks support or care or supervision

3. the first line of a paragraph that is set as the last line of a page or column

4. a young animal without a mother

  Familiarity information: ORPHAN used as a noun is uncommon.

• ORPHAN (verb)
  The verb ORPHAN has 1 sense:

1. deprive of parents

  Familiarity information: ORPHAN used as a verb is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• ORPHAN (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A child who has lost both parents

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Hypernyms ("orphan" is a kind of...):

child; fry; kid; minor; nestling; nipper; shaver; small fry; tiddler; tike; tyke; youngster (a young person of either sex)

Derivation:

orphan (deprive of parents)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Someone or something who lacks support or care or supervision

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Hypernyms ("orphan" is a kind of...):

individual; mortal; person; somebody; someone; soul (a human being)

Sense 3

Meaning:

The first line of a paragraph that is set as the last line of a page or column

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("orphan" is a kind of...):

line (text consisting of a row of words written across a page or computer screen)

Sense 4

Meaning:

A young animal without a mother

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

Hypernyms ("orphan" is a kind of...):

offspring; young (any immature animal)

• ORPHAN (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they orphan    ... he / she / it orphans   
Past simple: orphaned   
Past participle: orphaned   
-ing form: orphaning   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Deprive of parents

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Hypernyms (to "orphan" is one way to...):

deprive; divest; strip (take away possessions from someone)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody

Derivation:

orphan (a child who has lost both parents)

orphanage (a public institution for the care of orphans)

orphanage (the condition of being a child without living parents)

 Context examples 

Chemokine-Like Receptor 1, encoded by the human CMKLR1 gene, is an orphan receptor that belongs to G Protein-Coupled Receptor.

(Chemokine-Like Receptor 1, NCI Thesaurus)

I am an orphan, the daughter of a clergyman.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

How thoughtfully remind me, yet with no pretence of doing so, of the trust in which I held the orphan child!

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Orphan Nuclear Receptor Genes (NR Superfamily) encode numerous Orphan Nuclear Receptor (NRs) transcription factors thought to be activated by as yet unknown ligands.

(Orphan Nuclear Receptor Gene, NCI Thesaurus)

PGC-1a is a coactivator for many factors including, CBP, Scr-1, PPARa, glucocorticoid receptor, thyroid hormone receptor, several orphan receptors, and MEF2.

(PGC1a Regulation Pathway, NCI Thesaurus/BIOCARTA)

This allele, which encodes orphan nuclear receptor EAR-2 protein, plays a role in transcriptional regulation.

(NR2F6 wt Allele, NCI Thesaurus)

This allele, which encodes orphan nuclear receptor NR4A1 protein, is involved in cellular response to hormones.

(NR4A1 wt Allele, NCI Thesaurus)

Jane Fairfax was an orphan, the only child of Mrs. Bates's youngest daughter.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

Nuclear receptors are ligand-dependent transcription factors including steroids, retinoids, vitamin D, unliganded thyroid hormone, and orphan receptors (unknown ligands).

(Nuclear Receptor, NCI Thesaurus)

They were fond of the sweet orphan.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)