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
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
The Hobbit
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myPerspectives 8.1
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The Stranger
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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.
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
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
He’s glad tourists are scarcer too, even though they still straggle past on their way north to self-quarantines and social distancing.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 19, 2020
The boys began to straggle back up the hill toward the main campus in small groups, shaking their heads, talking softly among themselves about their chances of making the team.
From "The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" by Daniel James Brown
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.
