Stray
[streɪ] or [stre]
Definition
(noun.) an animal that has strayed (especially a domestic animal).
(verb.) wander from a direct course or at random; 'The child strayed from the path and her parents lost sight of her'; 'don't drift from the set course'.
(adj.) (of an animal) having no home or having wandered away from home; 'a stray calf'; 'a stray dog' .
Typist: Malcolm--From WordNet
Definition
(a.) To wander, as from a direct course; to deviate, or go out of the way.
(a.) To wander from company, or from the proper limits; to rove at large; to roam; to go astray.
(a.) Figuratively, to wander from the path of duty or rectitude; to err.
(v. t.) To cause to stray.
(v. i.) Having gone astray; strayed; wandering; as, a strayhorse or sheep.
(n.) Any domestic animal that has an inclosure, or its proper place and company, and wanders at large, or is lost; an estray. Used also figuratively.
(n.) The act of wandering or going astray.
Typist: Sonia
Synonyms and Synonymous
v. n. [1]. Wander, rove, ramble, range, roam, straggle, stroll, deviate, digress, go out of the way, go astray.[2]. Swerve (from rectitude), err.
n. Estray.
a. [Colloquial.] Straying, wandering, gone astray.
Inputed by Cecile
Synonyms and Antonyms
SYN:Wander, deviate, digress, ramble, go_astray, err, depart, rove
ANT:Adhere, abide, stick
Checked by Blanchard
Definition
v.i. to wander: to go from the enclosure company or proper limits: to err: to rove: to deviate from duty or rectitude.—v.t. (Shak.) to cause to stray.—n. a domestic animal that has strayed or is lost: a straggler a waif a truant: the act of wandering.—adj. Strayed wandering astray.—ns. Stray′er one who strays a wanderer; Stray′ling a little waif or stray.
Inputed by Inez
Examples
- At least, he says so; but I shouldn't wonder if he was to stop here over Sunday, and stray that way. Charles Dickens. Hard Times.
- The papers were then brought home again, and the boys amused themselves to their hearts' content until the line was pulled down by a stray cow wandering through the orchard. Frank Lewis Dyer. Edison, His Life and Inventions.
- It is only the blood of a poor little stray dog. Wilkie Collins. The Woman in White.
- All the unowned dogs who stray into the Inns of Court and pant about staircases and other dry places seeking water give short howls of aggravation. Charles Dickens. Bleak House.
- I could not lay a finger anywhere but I was pricked; and now I seem to have gathered up a stray lamb in my arms. Charlotte Bronte. Jane Eyre.
- I wish my first day at Blackwater Park had not been associated with death, though it is only the death of a stray animal. Wilkie Collins. The Woman in White.
- My master will be against it, and he'll be beat, and see me beat, and made to fear his home, and perhaps to stray wild. Charles Dickens. Bleak House.
- The sheep and cattle strayed through the fields and corn,' says a contemporary, 'and there were none left who could drive them. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- They were on the borders of Oxfordshire, so far had poor old Betty Higden strayed. Charles Dickens. Our Mutual Friend.
- The poor creature had strayed into the plantation, and had been shot by your keeper. Wilkie Collins. The Woman in White.
- Instead of re-entering the house, they strayed through the garden, the ladies walking one on each side of Mr. Hall. Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
- I suppose the creature strayed into the plantations, and got shot. Wilkie Collins. The Woman in White.
- They were mostly silent, talking as their thoughts strayed through their minds. D. H. Lawrence. Women in Love .
- We came by again, within the hour, and he was taking account of stock, to see whether any of his flock had strayed or been stolen. Mark Twain. The Innocents Abroad.
- She played till Fanny's eyes, straying to the window on the weather's being evidently fair, spoke what she felt must be done. Jane Austen. Mansfield Park.
- It must be awful to be sleepless--everything stands by the bed and stares---- Miss Farish caught her straying hands. Edith Wharton. The House of Mirth.
- Scarcely a day passed that did not find Professor Porter straying in his preoccupied indifference toward the jaws of death. Edgar Rice Burroughs. Tarzan of the Apes.
- He tried both, but both confused him equally, and he came straying back to the same spot. Charles Dickens. Our Mutual Friend.
- There was a thin wisp of his hair straying on his forehead, she noticed that his skin was of a clear brown colour, his hands, his wrists. D. H. Lawrence. Women in Love .
- But under the straying voice, what a persistent, almost insane WILL! D. H. Lawrence. Women in Love .
- My father was an Englishman; but my mother--We are straying away from our subject, Mr. Blake; and it is my fault. Wilkie Collins. The Moonstone.
Editor: Solomon