straggle
Americanverb (used without object)
-
straggles,
present (3rd person singular)
-
straggled,
past participle, past
-
straggling
present participle
-
to spread or be spread in a scattered fashion or at irregular intervals.
The trees straggle over the countryside.
-
to lag behind others.
Some organizations have caught on to this concept, but others are straggling behind.
-
to stray from the road, course, or line of march.
-
to wander about in a scattered fashion; ramble.
verb
-
to go, come, or spread in a rambling or irregular way; stray
-
to linger behind or wander from a main line or part
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
stragglesimple
-
stragglessimple
-
have straggledperfect
-
has straggledperfect
-
am stragglingprogressive
-
are stragglingprogressive
-
is stragglingprogressive
-
have been stragglingperfect progressive
-
has been stragglingperfect progressive
Past
-
straggledsimple
-
had straggledperfect
-
was stragglingprogressive
-
were stragglingprogressive
-
had been stragglingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of straggle
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English straglen, of uncertain origin, perhaps a variant of strackle (unrecorded), frequentative of obsolete strake “to go, move” ( see -le ( def. )); cf. stagger ( def. )
Explanation
To straggle is to wander in an indirect, meandering way. Lions often go for the small antelopes that straggle behind the herd. To straggle is to veer from a route, or to wander aimlessly behind everyone else. If you plan to go to the movies but end up at a store and then a friend's house, you straggled. Straggling is a type of digressing — to straggle is to get sidetracked. In the military, straggling often means to stay on leave too long or be in the wrong position for a battle. When people straggle, they've gone off-course.
Vocabulary lists containing straggle
myPerspectives 8.1
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
The Hobbit
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
The Stranger
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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:
But the stragglers may not be able to straggle much longer: Bans on the chemicals are coming.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 23, 2023
Might Rory McIlroy end his nutty straggle through his major-golf desert here?
From Washington Post ● May 19, 2022
In the longer races, some competitors would straggle to the finish line well after Heiden had won and departed.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 2, 2022
The move comes as lawmakers straggle back to Washington for an abbreviated preelection session, as hopes are dimming for another coronavirus relief bill — or much else.”
From Fox News ● Sep. 8, 2020
They admitted it didn’t pay to keep it for just us straggle of kids who went there.
From "The Teacher’s Funeral" by Richard Peck
Thirty miles south, Old Lighthouse Road straggles to an end in a waterside housing development where air conditioning units sit on raised platforms.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 28, 2021
Second, he never wore his hair in long blond straggles, like a stoner Messiah; that, however, is the style favored by Moondog, as an accompaniment to his cacophonous shirts and his silver Ugg boots.
From The New Yorker ● Mar. 29, 2019
It straggles, it is too long, but it has some of Bean's brio.
From The Guardian ● Mar. 31, 2013
But Fridolin not only lacks skill at playwriting, so that his play straggles through a dozen jerky scenes; he shows no reticence about emotion, contrives a dozen tearjerky situations.
From Time Magazine Archive
“You question my talents? A half-dead mortal straggles into my swamp and questions my talents?”
From "The House of Hades" by Rick Riordan
The crowd straggled toward City Hall, where Kauffman launched into his speech.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 8, 2026
Now, day after day, he and the other students straggled into their classroom at 11:30 a.m.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 23, 2020
The families of the defendants straggled out the front door of the courthouse, some holding up their forearms to shield their faces from the cameras.
From New York Times ● Aug. 9, 2017
It’s an understandably more upbeat bunch than the group that straggled home from the Maui Invitational having dropped four of five.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 27, 2016
A few locals straggled nearby, pretending to shop while eavesdropping.
From "The Many Assassinations of Samir, the Seller of Dreams" by Daniel Nayeri
Some straggling celebrations were expected to continue Sunday night but would not create the same amount of pollution they did on the Fourth, Ciliberti said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 6, 2026
Campaigns have normally pushed for it, allowing them to lock in votes early and focus their efforts on Election Day to encourage straggling supporters to get to the polls.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 7, 2023
"It was really challenging straggling down the rock faces to get to this shoreline and count all the plastic that was there," she said.
From BBC ● Nov. 16, 2022
In New York City, a monument production hub less than a century ago — where now only a few straggling businesses remain, including just two full-service companies — this was not good news.
From New York Times ● Mar. 3, 2022
Hesitating under the straggling fringe of palm fronds, he peered into the shop’s interior, which seemed in deep gloom after the blaze of sun in the road.
From "The Golden Goblet" by Eloise Jarvis McGraw
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
