Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English - of

strong,; strong ~ prep 1 a) used to show a feature or quality that something has  (the colour of her dress | the width of the road | the size of John's overdraft) b) used to say that something is part of something else  (the leg of the table | the roots of her hair | the last scene of the movie) 2 used to show that something belongs to someone  (a friend of my parents | a computer of her own | a habit of his) 3 used to talk about a group or collection of particular people or things  (a herd of elephants) 4 used to talk about a particular amount or measurement of something  (two kilos of sugar | lots of money | a drop of water | a cup of coffee) 5 used to talk about a particular person or thing from a larger group of the same people or things  (a member of the soccer team | both of us | The Mona Lisa is one of his finest works. | the leading brand of shampoo.) 6 a) used in dates  (the 27th of July) b) AmE used in giving the time to mean before  (a quarter of seven (=6.45)) 7 used when giving the name of something or being more specific about something that is very general  (the city of New York | the art of painting | the age of eight | the problem of unemployment) 8 a) used after nouns describing actions, to show who the action is done to  (the killing of innocent children (=the children are killed)) b) used after nouns describing actions, to show who does the action  (the barking of the dogs (=the dogs bark)) 9 used to say what particular subject, person, thing etc another subject, person or thing is connected with or deals with  (the Queen of England | disease of the liver | the results of the meeting | the advantages of using a computer) 10 literary used to say what substance something is made of  (a dress of pure silk) 11 a) the day/year etc of the day, year etc that something happened  (the day of the accident | the week of the festival) b) of the day/year etc the best or most important person or thing or a particular day or year  (She has been voted `Woman of the Year'.) c) of an evening/of a weekend used to say that you often do something in the evenings, at weekends etc  (We always like to walk by the river of an evening.) 12 used to show that something is the result of something else  (She left of her own free will. | He died of cancer. | the effects of radiation) 13 a) used to say who writes a play, who paints a painting etc  (the plays of Shakespeare | The building is the work of a great artist.) b) used to show what a picture, story etc is about or who is in it  (a photo of Elizabeth | a map of Indonesia | a story of love and loss) 14 about  (He's never heard of John Lennon. | Rumours of his infidelity filled the newspapers.) 15 used to show where something is or how far something is from something else  (east of Suez | I live within a mile of here.) 16 used to describe a particular person or thing  (a woman of tremendous spirit | a matter of no importance) 17 especially literary used to say where someone comes from  (Jesus of Nazareth | the people of China) 18 it is kind of/it was wrong of etc used to say that something that someone has done shows that they are kind, wrong etc  (It was silly of him to think he could cheat.)  ( USAGE NOTE: OF GRAMMAR You use 's or plural s' rather than of to mean `belonging to someone' the students' grades | my friend's car | Clive's new hairstyle When you talk about something that belongs to or is part of something, you can use of the corner of the street | the top of the mountain | the street corner | the mountain top You also use 's and s' to talk about periods of time, for example a day's work | three weeks' vacation 's is increasingly used with the names of places, especially in newspapers and American English Chicago's favorite son | China's recent history When you use words like a, some, the, this etc with the word for something that belongs to someone, or the person you are talking about in connection with them, you can use both of and 's together that old bike of Cathy's | a friend of Terry's )