stray

[ strey ]

/ streɪ /

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See synonyms for: stray / strayed / straying / strays on Thesaurus.com

verb (used without object)

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.

to digress or become distracted: to stray from the main topic.

noun

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.

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.

strays, Radio. static.

adjective

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.

OTHER WORDS FOR stray

1 rove, range.

2 drift, meander.

3 err.

See synonyms for stray on Thesaurus.com

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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

OTHER WORDS FROM stray

stray·er, nounun·stray·ing, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use stray in a sentence

Authorities said a stray bullet struck the windshield of a vehicle parked on O Street, and another stray bullet struck the front passenger door of a vehicle that was being driven on North Capitol Street.
Man fatally shot in Truxton Circle in Northwest Washington|Peter Hermann|November 20, 2020|Washington Post
The show increasingly strays from the stubborn woman upon whose head the crown rests to spend time with those in turmoil as a result of its distributed weight.
As ‘The Crown’ tackles recent history with Princess Diana, the show hits a nerve|Sonia Rao|November 19, 2020|Washington Post
Well, he vanished pre-election Simply for that stray erection!
Style Invitational Week 1410: Legends of the fall|Pat Myers|November 12, 2020|Washington Post
Major network groups, such as Disney, Fox, NBCUniversal and ViacomCBS, have expanded their streaming footprints in recent years, so the money at risk of straying from their linear inventory wound up going to their streaming slots.
‘CTV took from everybody’: How connected TV won this year’s upfront|Tim Peterson|October 28, 2020|Digiday

I mean, there are more stray dogs than owned dogs in the world.
Forget Everything You Know About Your Dog (Ep. 436)|Stephen J. Dubner|October 22, 2020|Freakonomics
Dr. Kent Sepkowitz applauds the CDC investigators for straying off-message.
CDC Researchers Find Lower Mortality Rates Among Overweight People|Kent Sepkowitz|January 3, 2013|DAILY BEAST
It succeeds to the degree that it can vary its formula without straying too far.
James Bond Movies & the Beatles Still Pop-Culture Icons 50 Years After Debuts|Malcolm Jones|October 5, 2012|DAILY BEAST
And for those Jews who might think of straying next year, Democrats have two words for them: “Rick Perry.”
Don't Sweat the Jewish Vote|Eric Alterman|September 16, 2011|DAILY BEAST
Gingrich is a smart fellow steeped in the issues, but also has a knack for straying off message.
The Right Turns on Newt|Howard Kurtz|April 8, 2011|DAILY BEAST
Signs around the country suggest that any Republican straying too far to the center is courting trouble.
Who's Gunning for Lindsey Graham?|Samuel P. Jacobs|July 21, 2010|DAILY BEAST
The monotony of our journey was rather romantically interrupted by our straying for a short distance from the right road.
A Woman's Journey Round the World|Ida Pfeiffer
Its truths, so simple and yet so grand, were at once a guide and a reproof to keep her feet from straying from the narrow way.
The value of a praying mother|Isabel C. Byrum
He went off to send the dogs after an adventurous bunch of sheep that was straying from the main flock.
The Flockmaster of Poison Creek|George W. Ogden
Straying to the piano, he sat down and began to play a Chopin prelude.
The Opened Shutters|Clara Louise Burnham
Therefore, in straying in that direction I ran the risk of being captured.
My Reminiscences of the Anglo-Boer War|Ben Viljoen.

British Dictionary definitions for stray

stray

/ (streɪ) /

verb (intr)

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

to wander haphazardly

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 childwaifs and strays

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

adjective

scattered, random, or haphazarda stray bullet grazed his thigh

Derived forms of stray

strayer, noun

Word Origin for stray

C14: from Old French estraier, from Vulgar Latin estragāre (unattested), from Latin extrā- outside + vagāri to roam; see astray, extravagant, stravaig

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

stray

OTHER WORDS FOR stray

Origin of stray

OTHER WORDS FROM stray

Words related to stray

How to use stray in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for stray

Derived forms of stray

Word Origin for stray