stray
Americanverb (used without object)
-
strays,
present (3rd person singular)
-
strayed,
past participle, past
-
straying
present participle
-
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.
-
to wander; roam.
I strayed through the maze of the forest.
-
to go astray; deviate, as from a moral, religious, or philosophical course.
to stray from the teachings of the church.
- Synonyms:
- err
-
to digress or become distracted.
to stray from the main topic.
noun
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strays
plural
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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.
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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.
-
a person or animal that strays.
the strays of a flock.
-
Radio. strays, static.
adjective
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straying or having strayed, as a domestic animal.
-
found or occurring apart from others or as an isolated or casual instance; incidental or occasional.
-
Radio. undesired.
stray capacitance.
verb
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to wander away, as from the correct path or from a given area
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to wander haphazardly
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to digress from the point, lose concentration, etc
-
to deviate from certain moral standards
noun
-
-
a domestic animal, fowl, etc, that has wandered away from its place of keeping and is lost
-
( as modifier )
stray dogs
-
-
a lost or homeless person, esp a child
waifs and strays
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an isolated or random occurrence, specimen, etc, that is out of place or outside the usual pattern
adjective
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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straysimple
-
strayssimple
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have strayedperfect
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has strayedperfect
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am strayingprogressive
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are strayingprogressive
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is strayingprogressive
-
have been strayingperfect progressive
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has been strayingperfect progressive
Past
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strayedsimple
-
had strayedperfect
-
was strayingprogressive
-
were strayingprogressive
-
had been strayingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of stray
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English verb straien, strayen, from Old French estraier, from unrecorded Vulgar Latin extrāvagāre “to wander out of bounds”; see origin at extravagant
Explanation
Little Red Riding Hood strayed from the path and ended up getting eaten by the Big Bad Wolf. When you stray, you wander off without paying attention to where you're going, and sometimes you get in trouble. Stray can be used as a verb or as a noun. Your attention may stray when you're tired and listening to a very boring lecture. You may be the kind of person who brings home strays, the dogs and cats that have wandered away from their homes and are lost and hungry. When you're organizing your sock drawer and you've got one sock without a mate, you might find the stray sock left behind in the dryer.
Vocabulary lists containing stray
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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.
See Examples For:
Many current systems use superconducting circuits, but these are highly sensitive to electromagnetic noise and stray electrical charges - similar to the static electricity that can make hair cling to a balloon.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 1, 2026
Happy ending for stray pup that sparked wild tarmac chase.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 23, 2026
“Being from Wisconsin, I wasn’t used to seeing colonies of stray cats everywhere because that’s a very real problem that’s going on in L.A.,” she says.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 7, 2026
Even a stray grain or hairline defect means the part has to be scrapped, he added.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026
She uses her boot to stomp a stray nail that pokes out from the wooden rectangular boards.
From "Kwame Crashes the Underworld" by Craig Kofi Farmer
“Too often, the U.S. strays from long-term economic priorities, while China can go too far and fail to acknowledge its mistakes until it is too late. There is a happy median in there somewhere.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 30, 2026
Noah telling Kendrick “I remembered what you can do to lightskinned dudes from other countries” - Drake is never not catching strays at the Grammys.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 1, 2026
For casual listeners, there are other signs: Inconsistent drum patterns, bland lyrics, and a singer who never strays from the melody or lets rip on the final chorus.
From BBC ● Jan. 16, 2026
Each 11-minute episode follows mundane escapades, like hosting a movie night or getting in a hot tub, punctuated by a somewhat disturbing art style and clumsy-on-purpose animation that strays into the uncanny valley.
From Salon ● Dec. 26, 2025
“Oh, and see that no one else strays too far. I’ll be in the tent if you need me for anything, but try not to disturb me.”
From "Redwall" by Brian Jacques
Townfall is not the first time the series has strayed away from the original game's location in America, 2025's Silent Hill f was set in 1960s rural Japan.
From BBC ● Sep. 25, 2026
More recently, however, as cost-of-living concerns have risen for Singaporean voters, the government has strayed from that formula.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 8, 2026
On our way back down, an Australian tourist strayed from the path toward a tunnel entrance.
From Slate ● Sep. 8, 2026
Inflation has strayed above the Fed target for more than five years.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 31, 2026
He hadn’t played anything, or strayed out of step.
From "Strange the Dreamer" by Laini Taylor
Google said it is monitoring the model's reasoning to stop it from straying beyond what users intended, a risk researchers call misalignment.
From Barron's ● Sep. 30, 2026
American chip making giant Nvidia announced on Monday that it created a system designed to stop autonomous AI programs from straying beyond what they were instructed to do.
From Barron's ● Sep. 29, 2026
In addition, Treasury straying away from its “regular and predictable” mantra could increase term premium in the long run, says Molly Brooks, research strategist at TD Securities.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 9, 2026
“Our library-based book club talked about it for a solid 90 minutes without straying from what the book itself had to offer its readers.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 18, 2026
The cause of all the commotion sat serenely, his rapt, innocent gaze never straying from the minister’s face, his hand still cupped over the imprisoned fly.
From "The Witch of Blackbird Pond" by Elizabeth George Speare
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.
