estray

[ ih-strey ]

/ ɪˈstreɪ /

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noun

a person or animal that has strayed.

Law. a domestic animal, as a horse or a sheep, found wandering or without an owner.

verb (used without object)

Archaic. to stray.

QUIZ

THINGAMABOB OR THINGUMMY: CAN YOU DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THE US AND UK TERMS IN THIS QUIZ?

Do you know the difference between everyday US and UK terminology? Test yourself with this quiz on words that differ across the Atlantic.

Question 1 of 7

In the UK, COTTON CANDY is more commonly known as…

candystring

candyfloss

candypuff

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Origin of estray

1250–1300; Middle English astrai<Anglo-French estray, derivative of Old French estraier to stray

Words nearby estray

estragon, estral, estrange, estranged, estrangement, estray, estreat, Estrela mountain dog, Estremadura, estrildid, estrin

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use estray in a sentence

And a health to the one away, Who drifts down careless Italy, God's wanderer and estray!
Songs from Vagabondia|Bliss Carman and Richard Hovey
The smaller seemed a mere estray, a spray blown down by the recent gale.
Great Ghost Stories|Various
A rescue party had come in search of the estray, and they were soon brought with rejoicing home.
French Classics|William Cleaver Wilkinson
Fred Godfrey was almost in sight of his home, when he was both pleased and alarmed by coming upon an estray horse.
Wyoming|Edward Sylvester Ellis

Assuring himself that she was the estray, Fred looked at her bag to see the condition of that.
The Hunters of the Ozark|Edward S. Ellis

British Dictionary definitions for estray

estray

/ (ɪˈstreɪ) /

noun

law a stray domestic animal of unknown ownership

Word Origin for estray

C16: from Anglo-French, from Old French estraier to stray

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012