HOW TO PRONOUNCE
orphan
/ˈɔɹfən/
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American Pronunciation Guide · 0:47
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What does orphan mean?
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.
More meanings (7)
noun
- (figuratively) Anything that is unsupported, as by its source, provider or caretaker, by reason of the supporter's demise or decision to abandon.
- A single line of type, beginning a paragraph, at the bottom of a column or page.
- Any unreferenced object.
adjective
- Deprived of parents (also orphaned).
- (figuratively) Remaining after the removal of some form of support.
verb
- To deprive of parents (used almost exclusively in the passive).
- To make unavailable, as by removing the last remaining pointer or reference to.
Definitions regrouped for readability · CC BY-SA 4.0
IPA pronunciation
/ˈɔɹfən/
Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 ↗Pronunciation varies by speaker and region. About these dictionary pronunciations.
In the pages of books
See this word in context.
All this would equally apply to a destitute widow, an artizan suddenly thrown out of work, an orphan family, or the like.
Then out of the great gulf surged the heroic Galveston tragedy, and the two orphan children came to fill the idealized want.
More book examples (3)
Here was an unexpectedly good chance to get this unwelcome orphan off her hands, and she did not even feel grateful for it.
"I don't believe she belongs to anybody. I believe she is an orphan. But she is not a beggar, however shabby she looks."
I think it was very unkind of you and him to saddle me with your orphan asylum and run off South to play.