straggle

[strag-uh l]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR straggle ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used without object), strag·gled, strag·gling.

to stray from the road, course, or line of march.

to wander about in a scattered fashion; ramble.

to spread or be spread in a scattered fashion or at irregular intervals: The trees straggle over the countryside.

Origin of straggle

1350–1400; Middle English straglen < ?

Related formsstrag·gler, nounstrag·gling·ly, adverb

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for straggle

dawdle, ramble, meander, lag, poke, roam, drift, tail, straddle, trail, range, spread, rove, loiter, maunder, scramble

Examples from the Web for straggle

Historical Examples of straggle

Complaining not, they straggle down to their bunks to change their clothes.
The Book of Khalid
Ameen Rihani
Any man that says I straggle is a liar—exceptin' the colonel, and he's mistaken.
The Long Roll
Mary Johnston
Do you suppose I'd go off with them, and let you straggle up home by yourself?
A Jolly Fellowship
Frank R. Stockton
Nothing was allowed to straggle, or to take up more than its share of room.
"Some Say"
Laura Elizabeth Howe Richards
Do they straggle along so loosely as to escape particular notice?
The Foot-path Way
Bradford Torrey

British Dictionary definitions for straggle

straggle

verb (intr)

to go, come, or spread in a rambling or irregular way; stray

to linger behind or wander from a main line or part

Derived Formsstraggler, nounstraggling, adjectivestragglingly, adverbstraggly, adjective

Word Origin for straggle

C14: of uncertain origin; perhaps related to strake and stretch

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 straggle

c.1400, "to wander from the proper path, to rove from one's companions," perhaps from a Scandinavian source (cf. dialectal Norwegian stragla "to walk laboriously"), or a frequentative of straken "to move, go." Specifically of soldiers from 1520s. Related: Straggled; straggling.