stray
Americanverb (used without object)
-
strays,
present (3rd person singular)
-
strayed,
past participle, past
-
straying
present participle
-
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
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strays
plural
-
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.
-
Radio. strays, 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.
verb
-
to wander away, as from the correct path or from a given area
-
to wander haphazardly
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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
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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straysimple
-
strayssimple
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have strayedperfect
-
has strayedperfect
-
am strayingprogressive
-
are strayingprogressive
-
is strayingprogressive
-
have been strayingperfect progressive
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has been strayingperfect progressive
Past
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strayedsimple
-
had strayedperfect
-
was strayingprogressive
-
were strayingprogressive
-
had been strayingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of stray
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English verb straien, strayen, from Old French estraier, from unrecorded Vulgar Latin extrāvagāre “to wander out of bounds”; see origin at extravagant
Explanation
Little Red Riding Hood strayed from the path and ended up getting eaten by the Big Bad Wolf. When you stray, you wander off without paying attention to where you're going, and sometimes you get in trouble. Stray can be used as a verb or as a noun. Your attention may stray when you're tired and listening to a very boring lecture. You may be the kind of person who brings home strays, the dogs and cats that have wandered away from their homes and are lost and hungry. When you're organizing your sock drawer and you've got one sock without a mate, you might find the stray sock left behind in the dryer.
Vocabulary lists containing stray
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Later, it encountered a stray charging cord snaking across the ground as it vacuumed.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 16, 2026
During the subsequent appeal, seven objectors expressed concerns about the changes at the land linked to sanitation, stray animals and unusual noises.
From BBC ● Oct. 9, 2026
But those pros have a tendency to stray from their benchmarks—often in the wrong direction.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 5, 2026
Many current systems use superconducting circuits, but these are highly sensitive to electromagnetic noise and stray electrical charges - similar to the static electricity that can make hair cling to a balloon.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 1, 2026
“Oh, yeah?” she said, blowing a stray hair out of her face.
From "Half Upon a Time" by James Riley
But Ms. Gammon never strays far from the mystery of Jutta and Lukas’s demise.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2026
Most kittens and cats brought to the shelter are strays, or so-called community cats without clear owners.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 11, 2026
When our conversation strays into this territory, he turns blunt.
From Salon ● May 15, 2026
For casual listeners, there are other signs: Inconsistent drum patterns, bland lyrics, and a singer who never strays from the melody or lets rip on the final chorus.
From BBC ● Jan. 16, 2026
“I call him Froggie because he so often strays away—just like the Frog that would a-wooing go, whether his mother would let him or no. Don’t you, Froggie?”
From "Mary Poppins" by P. L. Travers
Townfall is not the first time the series has strayed away from the original game's location in America, 2025's Silent Hill f was set in 1960s rural Japan.
From BBC ● Sep. 25, 2026
More recently, however, as cost-of-living concerns have risen for Singaporean voters, the government has strayed from that formula.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 8, 2026
On our way back down, an Australian tourist strayed from the path toward a tunnel entrance.
From Slate ● Sep. 8, 2026
Inflation has strayed above the Fed target for more than five years.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 31, 2026
He had neither strayed from his balcony nor opened a newspaper since Independence, but in spite of this fact, or maybe because of it, his opinions were always highly esteemed.
From "Interpreter of Maladies" by Jhumpa Lahiri
American chip making giant Nvidia announced on Monday that it created a system designed to stop autonomous AI programs from straying beyond what they were instructed to do.
From Barron's ● Sep. 29, 2026
“Our library-based book club talked about it for a solid 90 minutes without straying from what the book itself had to offer its readers.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 18, 2026
Swinney said Hamilton was straying into "incredibly inappropriate territory" and denied trying to sweep the story under the carpet.
From BBC ● May 26, 2026
The Treasury market has been quiet lately, with 10-year debt barely straying from a yield of 4.3% in April.
From Barron's ● Apr. 27, 2026
I slow, my fingers straying toward the letter to the Emperor.
From "An Ember in the Ashes" by Sabaa Tahir
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
