stray

American  

[strey] / streɪ /

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.

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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 British  

/ 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

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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

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.

Example Sentences

Another of his acclaimed works is 2022's Runt, about the adventures of an 11-year-old girl and her stray dog and set in the Australia outback.

From BBC • May 5, 2026

Then do a quick sweep of your surfaces: crumbs, scraps, stray La Croix cans, to-go coffee cups, bits of plastic wrap or parchment.

From Salon • May 5, 2026

Neither side can afford the wrong signal from a stray gesture or a misplaced staircase.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 27, 2026

Depth is good at that spot, because as the Chargers were reminded last season, you’ll sooner find a stray $100 bill on the street than a capable NFL tackle.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 25, 2026

Clipper, the stray cat with the clipped tail and patch of missing fur, was sitting on his lap.

From "The First State of Being" by Erin Entrada Kelly

Related Words

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