Band vs. Strip — What's the Difference?
By Urooj Arif & Fiza Rafique — Updated on March 26, 2024
A band is a thin, flat piece of material that encircles or binds objects together, often elastic or flexible, while a strip is a long, narrow piece of material that may or may not have flexibility, used in various applications from decoration to support.
Difference Between Band and Strip
Table of Contents
ADVERTISEMENT
Key Differences
Bands and strips are terms used to describe shapes and objects in various contexts, each possessing distinct characteristics based on their material, usage, and properties. Bands are commonly understood as materials that have the flexibility and strength to encircle or bind objects. They are often made from materials like rubber, fabric, or metal and are used in applications ranging from securing items together, as in rubber bands, to fashion accessories, like wristbands or headbands. Strips, on the other hand, are defined by their long, narrow shape and can be made from a variety of materials, including metal, wood, plastic, and fabric. Unlike bands, strips may not necessarily be flexible and can serve a wide range of purposes, from structural support in construction, as in metal strips, to decorative elements, like strips of fabric used in crafts.
The defining feature of a band is its ability to wrap around objects, providing hold or decoration. Strips can be rigid or semi-rigid and are often utilized in contexts where their form or structural integrity is important, such as in weather stripping or as components in manufacturing.
The flexibility of a band allows it to be used in applications where it needs to stretch or conform to the shape of an object. This makes bands particularly useful for items that need to be secured tightly but with some degree of elasticity. Strips, with their variable rigidity, are chosen for applications that require straight edges or specific lengths without the need for stretching, often serving as components in larger assemblies or as standalone decorative elements.
While both bands and strips are fundamental in various industries for different applications, understanding their distinct characteristics helps in selecting the appropriate type based on the needs of a project or purpose. Bands emphasize flexibility and encirclement, suitable for applications requiring elasticity and adaptability. Strips focus on the linear and narrow aspect, ideal for applications needing precise lengths, structural support, or decorative linear elements.
Comparison Chart
Definition
A thin, flexible material used to encircle or bind
A long, narrow piece of material, flexible or rigid
ADVERTISEMENT
Flexibility
Generally flexible, able to wrap around objects
Can be rigid or semi-rigid, not necessarily for wrapping
Common Uses
Securing items, fashion accessories, identification
Structural support, decoration, crafting
Materials
Rubber, fabric, metal
Metal, wood, plastic, fabric
Characteristics
Elasticity, ability to conform to shapes
Length, potential for rigidity, straight edges
Compare with Definitions
Band
Elastic material for securing.
She used a rubber band to keep the papers together.
Strip
Weatherproofing.
Weather stripping was applied around the windows to prevent drafts.
Band
Flexible and adaptable.
The fabric band stretched to fit various head sizes comfortably.
Strip
Narrow piece for structural use.
The carpenter nailed a wooden strip to the frame for extra support.
Band
Fashion accessory.
The leather band added style to his outfit.
Strip
Crafting component.
She cut strips of paper for her scrapbooking project.
Band
Identification or support.
Athletes wear bands for wrist support or team identification.
Strip
Can be rigid or flexible.
The metal strip was bent into shape for the sculpture.
Band
Encircles objects.
A gold band encircled the vase, enhancing its beauty.
Strip
Decorative element.
Strips of colorful fabric decorated the room for the party.
Band
A thin strip of flexible material used to encircle and bind one object or to hold a number of objects together
A metal band around the bale of cotton.
Strip
To remove clothing or covering from
Stripped the beds.
Band
A strip or stripe that contrasts with something else in color, texture, or material.
Strip
To remove or take off (clothing or covering)
Stripped off his shirt.
Band
A narrow strip of fabric used to trim, finish, or reinforce articles of clothing.
Strip
To remove an exterior coating, as of paint or varnish, from
Stripped the cabinets.
Band
Something that constrains or binds morally or legally
The bands of marriage and family.
Strip
To remove the leaves from the stalks of (tobacco, for example).
Band
A simple ring, especially a wedding ring.
Strip
To clear of a natural covering or growth; make bare
Strip a field.
Band
A neckband or collar.
Strip
To deprive of possessions, office, rank, privileges, or honors; divest
The court stripped him of his property.
Band
Bands The two strips hanging from the front of a collar as part of the dress of certain clerics, scholars, and lawyers.
Strip
To rob of wealth or property; plunder or despoil
Stripped the palace of its treasures.
Band
A high collar popular in the 1500s and 1600s.
Strip
To remove equipment, furnishings, or accessories from
They stripped down the car to reduce its weight.
Band
(Biology) A chromatically, structurally, or functionally differentiated strip or stripe in or on an organism.
Strip
To remove nonessential detail from; reduce to essentials
The director stripped down her style of filmmaking.
Band
(Anatomy) A cordlike tissue that connects or holds structures together.
Strip
To dismantle (a firearm, for example) piece by piece.
Band
A specific range of wavelengths or frequencies of electromagnetic radiation.
Strip
To damage or break the threads of (a screw, for example) or the teeth of (a gear).
Band
A range of very closely spaced electron energy levels in solids, the distribution and nature of which determine the electrical properties of a material.
Strip
To draw and discard the first drops of milk from the udder of (a cow or goat, for example) at the start of milking.
Band
Any of the distinct grooves on a long-playing phonograph record that contains an individual selection or a separate section of a whole.
Strip
To draw the last drops of milk from the udder of (a cow or goat, for example) at the end of milking.
Band
A cord or strip across the back of a book to which the sheets or quires are attached.
Strip
To extract the milt or roe from (a live fish).
Band
A group of people
A band of outlaws.
Strip
To draw in (a fishing line) by hand, as between casts with a fly rod.
Band
A group of animals.
Strip
To mount (a photographic positive or negative) on paper to be used in making a printing plate.
Band
(Anthropology) A unit of social organization especially among hunter-gatherers, consisting of a usually small number of families living together cooperatively.
Strip
To undress completely.
Band
(Canadian) An aboriginal group officially recognized as an organized unit by the Canadian government. See Usage Note at First Nation.
Strip
To perform a striptease.
Band
A group of musicians who perform as an ensemble.
Strip
To fall away or be removed; peel
The wallpaper strips away easily.
Band
To tie, bind, or encircle with or as if with a band.
Strip
To cut or tear into strips.
Band
To mark or identify with a band
A program to band migrating birds.
Strip
A striptease.
Band
To assemble or unite in a group.
Strip
A long narrow piece, usually of uniform width
A strip of paper.
Strips of beef.
Band
To form a group; unite
Banded together for protection.
Strip
A long narrow region of land or body of water.
Band
A strip of material used for strengthening or coupling.
Strip
A comic strip.
Band
A strip of material wrapped around things to hold them together.
Strip
An airstrip.
Band
A narrow strip of cloth or other material on clothing, to bind, strengthen, or ornament it.
Strip
An area, as along a busy street or highway, that is lined with a great number and variety of commercial establishments.
Band
A strip along the spine of a book where the pages are attached.
Strip
(countable) A long, thin piece of land; any long, thin area.
The countries were in dispute over the ownership of a strip of desert about 100 metres wide.
Band
A belt or strap that is part of a machine.
Strip
A long, thin piece of any material; any such material collectively.
Papier mache is made from strips of paper.
Squeeze a strip of glue along the edge and then press down firmly.
I have some strip left over after fitting out the kitchen.
Band
A long strip of material, color, etc, that is different from the surrounding area.
Sandstone with bands of shale
Strip
A comic strip.
Band
(architecture) A strip of decoration.
Strip
A landing strip.
Band
A continuous tablet, stripe, or series of ornaments, as of carved foliage, of colour, or of brickwork.
Strip
A strip steak.
Band
In Gothic architecture, the moulding, or suite of mouldings, which encircles the pillars and small shafts.
Strip
(US) A street with multiple shopping or entertainment possibilities.
Band
That which serves as the means of union or connection between persons; a tie.
Strip
(fencing) The playing area, roughly 14 meters by 2 meters.
Band
A linen collar or ruff worn in the 16th and 17th centuries.
Strip
The uniform of a football team, or the same worn by supporters.
Band
(in the plural) Two strips of linen hanging from the neck in front as part of a clerical, legal, or academic dress.
Preaching band
Strip
(mining) A trough for washing ore.
Band
(physics) A part of the electromagnetic spectrum.
Strip
The issuing of a projectile from a rifled gun without acquiring the spiral motion.
Band
(physics) A group of energy levels in a solid state material.
Valence band;
Conduction band
Strip
(television) A television series aired at the same time daily (or at least on Mondays to Fridays), so that it appears as a strip straight across the weekly schedule.
Band
(obsolete) A bond.
Strip
(finance) An investment strategy involving simultaneous trade with one call and two put options on the same security at the same strike price, similar to but more bearish than a straddle.
Band
(obsolete) Pledge; security.
Strip
The act of removing one's clothes; a striptease.
She stood up on the table and did a strip.
Band
A ring, such as a wedding ring (wedding band), or a ring put on a bird's leg to identify it.
Strip
Denotes a version of a game in which losing players must progressively remove their clothes.
Strip poker; strip Scrabble
Band
(sciences) Any distinguishing line formed by chromatography, electrophoresis etc
Strip
(transitive) To remove or take away, often in strips or stripes.
Norm will strip the old varnish before painting the chair.
Band
(medicine) band cell
Strip
To take off clothing.
Seeing that no one else was about, he stripped and dived into the river.
Band
A wad of money totaling $1K, held together by a band; (by extension) money
Strip
(intransitive) To perform a striptease.
In the seedy club, a group of drunken men were watching a woman stripping.
Band
A group of musicians who perform together as an ensemble, usually for a professional recording artist.
Strip
(transitive) To take away something from (someone or something); to plunder; to divest.
The athlete was stripped of his medal after failing a drugs test.
They had stripped the forest bare, with not a tree left standing.
Don't park your car here overnight, otherwise it will be stripped by morning.
Band
A type of orchestra originally playing janissary music.
Strip
(transitive) To remove cargo from (a container).
Band
A marching band.
Strip
(transitive) To remove (the thread or teeth) from a screw, nut, or gear, especially inadvertently by overtightening.
Don't tighten that bolt any more or you'll strip the thread.
The screw is stripped.
Band
A group of people loosely united for a common purpose a band of thieves.
Strip
(intransitive) To fail in the thread; to lose the thread, as a bolt, screw, or nut.
Band
(anthropology) A small group of people living in a simple society, contrasted with tribes, chiefdoms, and states.
Strip
(transitive) To fire (a bullet or ball) from a rifle such that it fails to pick up a spin from the rifling.
Band
(Canada) A group of aboriginals that has official recognition as an organized unit by the federal government of Canada.
Strip
(intransitive) To fail to pick up a spin from the grooves in a rifle barrel.
Band
To fasten with a band.
Strip
(transitive) To remove color from hair, cloth, etc. to prepare it to receive new color.
Band
To fasten an identifying band around the leg of (a bird).
Strip
To remove all cards of a particular suit from another player. (See also strip-squeeze.)
Band
(intransitive) To group together for a common purpose; to confederate.
Strip
(transitive) To empty (tubing) by applying pressure to the outside of (the tubing) and moving that pressure along (the tubing).
Band
To group (students) together by perceived ability; to stream.
Strip
(transitive) To milk a cow, especially by stroking and compressing the teats to draw out the last of the milk.
Band
A fillet, strap, or any narrow ligament with which a thing is encircled, or fastened, or by which a number of things are tied, bound together, or confined; a fetter.
Every one's bands were loosed.
Strip
To press out the ripe roe or milt from fishes, for artificial fecundation.
Band
A continuous tablet, stripe, or series of ornaments, as of carved foliage, of color, or of brickwork, etc.
Strip
To run a television series at the same time daily (or at least on Mondays to Fridays), so that it appears as a strip straight across the weekly schedule.
Band
That which serves as the means of union or connection between persons; a tie.
Strip
To pare off the surface of (land) in strips.
Band
A linen collar or ruff worn in the 16th and 17th centuries.
Strip
(transitive) To remove the overlying earth from (a deposit).
Band
Two strips of linen hanging from the neck in front as part of a clerical, legal, or academic dress.
Strip
To pass; to get clear of; to outstrip.
Band
A narrow strip of cloth or other material on any article of dress, to bind, strengthen, ornament, or complete it.
Strip
To remove the insulation from a wire/cable.
Band
A company of persons united in any common design, especially a body of armed men.
Troops of horsemen with his bands of foot.
Strip
To remove the metal coating from (a plated article), as by acids or electrolytic action.
Band
A number of musicians who play together upon portable musical instruments, especially those making a loud sound, as certain wind instruments (trumpets, clarinets, etc.), and drums, or cymbals; as, a high school's marching band.
Strip
To remove fibre, flock, or lint from; said of the teeth of a card when it becomes partly clogged.
Band
A space between elevated lines or ribs, as of the fruits of umbelliferous plants.
Strip
To pick the cured leaves from the stalks of (tobacco) and tie them into "hands".
Band
A stripe, streak, or other mark transverse to the axis of the body.
Strip
To remove the midrib from (tobacco leaves).
Band
A belt or strap.
Strip
To deprive; to bereave; to make destitute; to plunder; especially, to deprive of a covering; to skin; to peel; as, to strip a man of his possession, his rights, his privileges, his reputation; to strip one of his clothes; to strip a beast of his skin; to strip a tree of its bark.
And strippen her out of her rude array.
They stripped Joseph out of his coat.
Opinions which . . . no clergyman could have avowed without imminent risk of being stripped of his gown.
Band
A bond.
Strip
To divest of clothing; to uncover.
Before the folk herself strippeth she.
Strip your sword stark naked.
Band
Pledge; security.
Strip
To dismantle; as, to strip a ship of rigging, spars, etc.
Band
To bind or tie with a band.
Strip
To pare off the surface of, as land, in strips.
Band
To mark with a band.
Strip
To deprive of all milk; to milk dry; to draw the last milk from; hence, to milk with a peculiar movement of the hand on the teats at the last of a milking; as, to strip a cow.
Band
To unite in a troop, company, or confederacy.
Strip
To pass; to get clear of; to outstrip.
When first they stripped the Malean promontory.
Before he reached it he was out of breath,And then the other stripped him.
Band
To confederate for some common purpose; to unite; to conspire together.
Certain of the Jews banded together.
Strip
To pull or tear off, as a covering; to remove; to wrest away; as, to strip the skin from a beast; to strip the bark from a tree; to strip the clothes from a man's back; to strip away all disguisses.
To strip bad habits from a corrupted heart, is stripping off the skin.
Band
To bandy; to drive away.
Strip
To tear off (the thread) from a bolt or nut; as, the thread is stripped.
Band
An unofficial association of people or groups;
The smart set goes there
They were an angry lot
Strip
To remove the metal coating from (a plated article), as by acids or electrolytic action.
Band
Instrumentalists not including string players
Strip
To remove fiber, flock, or lint from; - said of the teeth of a card when it becomes partly clogged.
Band
A stripe of contrasting color;
Chromosomes exhibit characteristic bands
Strip
To pick the cured leaves from the stalks of (tobacco) and tie them into "hands"; to remove the midrib from (tobacco leaves).
Band
A strip or stripe of a contrasting color or material
Strip
To take off, or become divested of, clothes or covering; to undress.
Band
A group of musicians playing popular music for dancing
Strip
A narrow piece, or one comparatively long; as, a strip of cloth; a strip of land.
Band
A range of frequencies between two limits
Strip
A trough for washing ore.
Band
Something elongated that is worn around the body or one of the limbs
Strip
The issuing of a projectile from a rifled gun without acquiring the spiral motion.
Band
Jewelry consisting of a circlet of precious metal (often set with jewels) worn on the finger;
She had rings on every finger
He noted that she wore a wedding band
Strip
A relatively long narrow piece of something;
He felt a flat strip of muscle
Band
A strip of material attached to the leg of a bird to identify it (as in studies of bird migration)
Strip
Artifact consisting of a narrow flat piece of material
Band
A restraint put around something to hold it together
Strip
An airfield without normal airport facilities
Band
Bind or tie together, as with a band
Strip
A sequence of drawings telling a story in a newspaper or comic book
Band
Attach a ring to the foot of, in order to identify;
Ring birds
Band the geese to observe their migratory patterns
Strip
Thin piece of wood or metal
Strip
A form of erotic entertainment in which a dancer gradually undresses to music;
She did a strip right in front of everyone
Strip
Take away possessions from someone;
The Nazis stripped the Jews of all their assets
Strip
Get undressed;
Please don't undress in front of everybody!
She strips in front of strangers every night for a living
Strip
Remove the surface from;
Strip wood
Strip
Remove substances from by a percolating liquid;
Leach the soil
Strip
Lay bare;
Denude a forest
Strip
Steal goods; take as spoils;
During the earthquake people looted the stores that were deserted by their owners
Strip
Remove all contents or possession from, or empty completely;
The boys cleaned the sandwich platters
The trees were cleaned of apples by the storm
Strip
Strip the cured leaves from;
Strip tobacco
Strip
Remove the thread (of screws)
Strip
Remove a constituent from a liquid
Strip
Take off or remove;
Strip a wall of its wallpaper
Strip
Draw the last milk (of cows)
Strip
Remove (someone's or one's own) clothes;
The nurse quickly undressed the accident victim
She divested herself of her outdoor clothes
He disinvested himself of his garments
Common Curiosities
What materials are commonly used for bands?
Materials like rubber, fabric, and metal are commonly used for bands, chosen for their flexibility and strength.
Are all bands elastic?
Many bands are designed to be elastic to some degree, but the term can also refer to non-elastic materials that encircle objects.
How do you choose between a band and a strip for a project?
The choice depends on the project's needs for flexibility, elasticity, and shape. Bands are better for flexible, encircling applications, while strips are chosen for their length and potential rigidity.
Can strips serve as fashion accessories?
Yes, strips of certain materials, like fabric, can be used as fashion accessories, though they may not offer the same elasticity as bands.
Can strips be used for binding like bands?
While strips can be used to bind in some contexts, they are not typically designed for elasticity and might not offer the same hold as bands.
What are some specific applications for strips in construction?
In construction, strips can serve as bracing elements, moldings, or seals, providing structural support or weatherproofing.
Can the term "band" refer to something other than a material object?
Yes, "band" can also refer to a group of musicians or a frequency range, though these meanings are contextually different from the material object.
How do bands contribute to sports or physical activities?
Bands are often used in sports for support, such as wristbands or headbands, and for resistance training to improve strength and flexibility.
Are there any industries that specifically rely on strips?
Industries like construction, manufacturing, and crafts heavily rely on strips for structural support, assembly components, and decorative elements.
How has the use of bands and strips evolved over time?
Over time, advancements in materials and technology have expanded the applications of bands and strips, from traditional uses to innovative designs in fashion, construction, and technology.
Share Your Discovery
Previous Comparison
Muton vs. Recon
Next Comparison
Balcony vs. PatioAuthor Spotlight
Written by
Urooj ArifUrooj is a skilled content writer at Ask Difference, known for her exceptional ability to simplify complex topics into engaging and informative content. With a passion for research and a flair for clear, concise writing, she consistently delivers articles that resonate with our diverse audience.
Co-written by
Fiza RafiqueFiza Rafique is a skilled content writer at AskDifference.com, where she meticulously refines and enhances written pieces. Drawing from her vast editorial expertise, Fiza ensures clarity, accuracy, and precision in every article. Passionate about language, she continually seeks to elevate the quality of content for readers worldwide.
