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stray
[ strey ]
verb (used without object)
- to deviate from the direct course, leave the proper place, or go beyond the proper limits, especially without a fixed course or purpose:
to stray from the main road.
- to wander; roam:
I strayed through the maze of the forest.
- to go astray; deviate, as from a moral, religious, or philosophical course:
to stray from the teachings of the church.
Synonyms: err
- to digress or become distracted:
to stray from the main topic.
noun
- a domestic animal found wandering at large or without an owner:
The humane society traps strays, spays or neuters them, and returns them to the feral colony in which they were found.
- any person or animal who is homeless or friendless:
For a popular girl, she has the oddest misfit friends—her mom says she just can’t help but collect strays.
- a person or animal that strays:
the strays of a flock.
- strays, Radio. static.
adjective
- straying or having strayed, as a domestic animal.
- found or occurring apart from others or as an isolated or casual instance; incidental or occasional.
- Radio. undesired:
stray capacitance.
stray
/ streɪ /
verb
- to wander away, as from the correct path or from a given area
- to wander haphazardly
- to digress from the point, lose concentration, etc
- to deviate from certain moral standards
noun
- a domestic animal, fowl, etc, that has wandered away from its place of keeping and is lost
- ( as modifier )
stray dogs
- a lost or homeless person, esp a child
waifs and strays
- an isolated or random occurrence, specimen, etc, that is out of place or outside the usual pattern
adjective
- scattered, random, or haphazard
a stray bullet grazed his thigh
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Derived Forms
- ˈstrayer, noun
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Other Words From
- stray·er noun
- un·stray·ing adjective
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Word History and Origins
Origin of stray1
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Word History and Origins
Origin of stray1
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Example Sentences
She narrowed her eyes, bit her lip as if to chew over the question, and whisked some stray blond hairs away from her face.
While some stray from the fold, most stay with the same pack their entire lives.
On the weekends the birds and stray cats keep the artists company as they set up their displays.
The film tells the story of Ron “Stray Dog” Hall, a burly, sixtysomething biker and Vietnam vet.
He karate-chops a final stray assassin, then they exchange vows.
He rose and kissed her lightly on the forehead, experience teaching him to avoid a stray hair from the carefully built coiffure.
The men stirred, and stray words of mingling wonder and anger reached the Parisian.
Stray goats and mules gazed expectantly up and down the track.
If there should happen t' be a stray trooper hangin' round there, the same would be mighty awkward for you fellers.
Dolcoath Stray Park engine, with a cylinder of 63 inches in diameter, did thirty-two millions.
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