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foray

[fawr-ey, for-ey]
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noun
  1. a quick raid, usually for the purpose of taking plunder: Vikings made a foray on the port.
  2. a quick, sudden attack: The defenders made a foray outside the walls.
  3. an initial venture: a successful foray into politics.
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verb (used without object)
  1. to make a raid; pillage; maraud.
  2. to invade or make one's way, as for profit or adventure: foreign industries foraying into U.S. markets.
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verb (used with object)
  1. to ravage in search of plunder; pillage.
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Origin of foray

1350–1400; Middle English forraien, apparently by back formation from forrayour, forreour, forrier < Old French forrier, fourrier, equivalent to fo(u)rr(er), derivative of fuerre provender (see forage) + -ier -ier2
Related formsfor·ay·er, noun

Synonyms for foray

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1. attack, assault, invasion, incursion, sortie.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for forayed

raid, violate, plunder, pillage, ravage, occupy, breach, storm, infect, penetrate, loot, infest, overrun, swamp, overwhelm, rout, massacre, devastate, rob, liberate

Examples from the Web for forayed

Historical Examples of forayed

  • I surely have hunted and forayed and fought all the days of my life.

    The Sea-Wolf

    Jack London

  • I wonder how many people thought of this when Englishmen "forayed Gaza" just before Easter, 1917?

  • He chose North Adams as his headquarters, and forayed thence in various directions over a radius of twenty miles.

    Hawthorne and His Circle

    Julian Hawthorne

British Dictionary definitions for forayed

foray

noun
  1. a short raid or incursion
  2. a first attempt or new undertaking
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verb
  1. to raid or ravage (a town, district, etc)
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Derived Formsforayer, noun

Word Origin for foray

C14: from forrayen to pillage, from Old French forreier, from forrier forager, from fuerre fodder; see forage
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

Word Origin and History for forayed

foray

n.

late 14c., Scottish, from the verb (14c.), perhaps a back-formation of Middle English forreyer "raider, forager" (mid-14c.), from Old French forrier, from forrer "to forage" (see forage (n.)). Disused by 18c.; revived by Scott.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper