Definition

1. Adjective:

   • Of a dark brownish-red to purplish-red color: Describes a specific, deep red-brown hue, often associated with certain fabrics, paints, or natural objects.

2. Noun:

   • A dark purplish-red to dark brownish-red color: The name of the color itself.
   • An exploding firework used as a warning signal: A type of pyrotechnic device that produces a loud bang and a bright flash, historically used for signaling, especially in maritime contexts.
   • A person who is stranded, especially on a deserted island: Someone who has been abandoned or left isolated in a remote place with little hope of rescue.

3. Verb:

   • To leave someone stranded and isolated in a remote place, especially on a deserted island, without resources: The act of abandoning someone in such a situation.
   • To be left in a state of helpless isolation: To be stranded or cut off, often with a sense of being trapped.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:

  • She wore a beautiful maroon dress to the party.
  • The university's official colors are maroon and white.

• Noun (Color):

  • The artist mixed red and brown to create a deep maroon.

• Noun (Firework):

  • The ship fired a maroon to signal distress.

• Noun (Person):

  • After the shipwreck, he became a maroon on the tiny island.

• Verb:

  • The pirates threatened to maroon the disobedient sailor on the next uninhabited island.
  • The hikers were marooned by the sudden flood that washed away the bridge.

Advanced Usage

• "to be marooned": This passive form is very common and emphasizes the state of being stranded.
  • The research team was marooned at the base camp for a week due to the blizzard.
• The term can be used metaphorically to describe feelings of social or emotional isolation.
  • After moving to a new city where she knew no one, she felt utterly marooned.

Variants and Related Words

• Marooning (n): The act of abandoning someone on a deserted island.
  • Marooning was a feared punishment among sailors.
• Marooned (adj): Describing the state of being stranded.
  • The marooned passengers waited anxiously for help.

Synonyms

• Adjective (Color): Burgundy, claret, oxblood.
• Verb (Abandon): Strand, abandon, desert, isolate.

Phrasal Verbs

(This word does not commonly form phrasal verbs.)

Related Idioms

• "To be left high and dry": This idiom shares a similar meaning with being marooned, implying abandonment in a difficult situation.
  • When the company went bankrupt, the employees were left high and dry.

Adjective

1. of dark brownish to purplish red

Noun

1. an exploding firework used as a warning signal
2. a dark purplish-red to dark brownish-red color
3. a person who is stranded (as on an island)
   • when the tide came in I was a maroon out there

Verb

1. leave stranded on a desert island without resources
   • The mutinous sailors were marooned on an island
2. leave stranded or isolated with little hope of rescue
   • the travellers were marooned