straggle
Americanverb (used without object)
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to spread or be spread in a scattered fashion or at irregular intervals.
The trees straggle over the countryside.
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to lag behind others.
Some organizations have caught on to this concept, but others are straggling behind.
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to stray from the road, course, or line of march.
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to wander about in a scattered fashion; ramble.
verb
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to go, come, or spread in a rambling or irregular way; stray
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to linger behind or wander from a main line or part
Other Word Forms
- straggler noun
- straggling adjective
- stragglingly adverb
- straggly adjective
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” ( -le ( def. ) ); stagger ( def. )
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.
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
Other jurisdictions have also been working out how to handle employees who straggle or refuse to follow vaccination mandates.
From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 15, 2021
He was a night owl, coding way past midnight and up in time to straggle into the office late in the morning.
From New York Times • Jul. 8, 2021
A few kids start to straggle back to the building, but most of us just stand there, fascinated.
From "Linked" by Gordon Korman
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.
