foray
Americannoun
-
forays
plural
verb (used without object)
-
forays,
present (3rd person singular)
-
forayed,
past participle, past
-
foraying
present participle
-
to make a raid; pillage; maraud.
-
to invade or make one's way, as for profit or adventure.
foreign industries foraying into U.S. markets.
verb (used with object)
-
forays,
present (3rd person singular)
-
forayed,
past participle, past
-
foraying
present participle
noun
-
a short raid or incursion
-
a first attempt or new undertaking
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
foraysimple
-
forayssimple
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have forayedperfect
-
has forayedperfect
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am forayingprogressive
-
are forayingprogressive
-
is forayingprogressive
-
have been forayingperfect progressive
-
has been forayingperfect progressive
Past
-
forayedsimple
-
had forayedperfect
-
was forayingprogressive
-
were forayingprogressive
-
had been forayingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of foray
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English forraien, apparently by back formation from forrayour, forreour, forrier, from Old French forrier, fourrier, equivalent to fo(u)rr(er), derivative of fuerre “provender” ( see forage) + -ier -ier 2
Explanation
Foray means brief excursion. If you're in the army, that's a literal excursion into enemy territory. For the rest of us, it means trying something out. "My foray into rugby ended with my spending a week in the hospital." This word derives from the Latin fuerre 'straw', which led into Old French as fourager 'forage,' or search for food. Think of soldiers stealing food from the enemy as maybe how this word first came to be used. Even if that is historically inaccurate, your foray into amateur word-sleuthing will help you remember this word.
Vocabulary lists containing foray
To Kill a Mockingbird
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"To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee, Chapters 1–6
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100 SAT Words Beginning with "F"
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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:
His first foray into professional acting was when he joined the RSC in 1966, going on to play King John, Oberon in A Midsummer Night's Dream and Henry IV.
From BBC ● Oct. 30, 2026
BlueChip is Luckey’s latest foray outside of Anduril, his $90 billion supplier of drones and weapons software.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 27, 2026
Ponder the first lady’s foray into diplomacy: Melania Trump is an enigmatic figure in Trumpworld.
From Slate ● Oct. 26, 2026
The development, which will house 338 condominiums, marks Michelin-starred chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s first foray into residential real estate.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 23, 2026
I followed them, having no direction of my own, except away from Siuwensin; which, I gathered as we walked, had been raided by a foray from Passerer across the bridge.
From "The Left Hand of Darkness" by Ursula K. Le Guin
The economic pressure has been matched by increasing forays by Chinese aircraft and warships close to Japan, and a stream of diplomatic invective invoking Japan’s wartime past.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 23, 2026
Josko Gvardiol: Figured at left-back but was always willing to lend his weight to City's attacking forays.
From BBC ● Aug. 28, 2026
One of Parton’s first forays into purer pop, this single has the stomp and shuffle of funk and could easily be retrofitted into disco DJ sets.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 25, 2026
Famous Boston fund manager Jeremy Grantham recalled in his autobiography one of his first forays into stock picking as a young man.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 15, 2026
But as the Taliban had gained more power, they had banned photography, so that had ended their forays outside.
From "Shooting Kabul" by N. H. Senzai
Inspired by saxophonist Charlie “Bird” Parker, Lee forayed into jazz, picking up his first bass while attending Morehouse College in Atlanta.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 24, 2023
Recently, the company even forayed into building a zero carbon emission racing vehicle to compete in the Baja 1000, a grueling Mexican off-road race approximately 850 miles long.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 6, 2021
Her parents have also forayed into the reality show world.
From Salon ● Sep. 10, 2019
The team stayed at Peveril of the Peak hotel, in nearby Thorpe, but frequently forayed into the livelier Ashbourne.
From BBC ● Jun. 3, 2016
I have my mother’s thin blood, the kind so easily forayed by a chilly draft, an unexpected rain.
From "Native Speaker" by Chang-rae Lee
But Xiaomi, which reported an 18.9% drop in its latest quarterly revenue in May, has its own compulsions for foraying into EVs.
From Reuters ● Aug. 23, 2023
As Ford sped forward, a sea of red-coated musicians cavorted and pranced across the south end of the field, foraying past the 20-yard line.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 19, 2021
Their sit-and-wait technique involved male baboons hovering around urban perimeters before foraying into the city.
From National Geographic ● Jan. 26, 2018
While Fletcher and his students are foraying into other applications of the mobile microscope, such as examining your skin or testing for malaria and Tb, MIT’s Ramesh Raskar has become known as the ‘Eye Guy.’
From Forbes ● Jul. 1, 2014
He at once concentrated the British forces at New York, pursuing a policy of foraying expeditions in place of regular campaigns.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 6, Slice 5 "Clervaux" to "Cockade" by Various
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