Definition of "orphan"
- noun
A person, especially a minor, both or (rarely) one of whose parents have died.
A young animal with no mother.
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).
Remaining after the removal of some form of support.
- verb
To deprive of parents (used almost exclusively in the passive).
(computing) To make unavailable, as by unlinking the last remaining pointer to.
- Sources