stray

[strey]

verb (used without object)

1. to deviate from the direct course, leave the proper place, or go beyond the proper limits, especially without a fixed course or purpose.

   to stray from the main road.

   Synonyms: range, rove

2. to wander; roam.

   I strayed through the maze of the forest.

   Synonyms: meander, drift

3. to go astray; deviate, as from a moral, religious, or philosophical course.

   to stray from the teachings of the church.

   Synonyms: err

4. to digress or become distracted.

   to stray from the main topic.

noun

1. a domestic animal found wandering at large or without an owner.

   The humane society traps strays, spays or neuters them, and returns them to the feral colony in which they were found.

2. any person or animal who is homeless or friendless.

   For a popular girl, she has the oddest misfit friends—her mom says she just can’t help but collect strays.

3. a person or animal that strays.

   the strays of a flock.

4. Radio.,  strays, static.

adjective

1. straying or having strayed, as a domestic animal.

2. found or occurring apart from others or as an isolated or casual instance; incidental or occasional.

3. Radio.,  undesired.

   stray capacitance.

stray

/ streɪ /

verb

1. to wander away, as from the correct path or from a given area

2. to wander haphazardly

3. to digress from the point, lose concentration, etc

4. to deviate from certain moral standards

noun

1. 1. a domestic animal, fowl, etc, that has wandered away from its place of keeping and is lost

   2. ( as modifier )

      stray dogs

2. a lost or homeless person, esp a child

   waifs and strays

3. an isolated or random occurrence, specimen, etc, that is out of place or outside the usual pattern

adjective

1. scattered, random, or haphazard

   a stray bullet grazed his thigh

Other Word Forms

• strayer noun
• unstraying adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of stray¹

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English verb straien, strayen, from Old French estraier, from unrecorded Vulgar Latin extrāvagāre “to wander out of bounds”; extravagant

Word History and Origins

Origin of stray¹

C14: from Old French estraier, from Vulgar Latin estragāre (unattested), from Latin extrā- outside + vagāri to roam; see _astray , _extravagant , _stravaig

Example Sentences

Audiences in fast-growing markets like China often valued spectacle over narrative consistency, so it didn’t seem to matter if the movies strayed far from their roots.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Regulatory T-cells can keep these stray, potentially harmful cells in check.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

For anyone who’s shocked that Sparks would stray off the beaten path of traditional love stories, that first book, the one his mom prompted him to write but never saw the light of day?

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Perhaps wisely, Blazy didn't stray too far from Chanel's classic look with his first collection, which was marked by stylish tweaks to the fashion giant's blouses, suits and tweeds.

Read more on BBC

Mr Daulby is understood to have died when he was hit by a stray bullet as police fired at Al-Shamie, who was wearing a suspicious device later found to have been a fake explosive vest.

Read more on BBC

Related Words

• deviate 
• drift 
• err 
• meander 
• roam 
• swerve