stray

Plural: strays

Noun

• an animal that has strayed (especially a domestic animal)
• Any domestic animal that lacks an enclosure, proper place, or company, but that instead wanders at large or is lost; an estray.
• A person who is lost, either literally or figuratively.
• An act of wandering off or going astray.
• An area of common land for use by domestic animals.
• An article of movable property, of which the owner is not known (see waif).
• An instance of atmospheric interference.
• A casual or offhand insult.
• A submissive that has not committed to submit to any particular dominant.
• Ellipsis of stray bullet.

Verb

Verb Forms: strayed, straying, strays

• To wander from the proper area or course.
• move about aimlessly or without any destination, often in search of food or employment
• wander from a direct course or at random
  • "The child strayed from the path and her parents lost sight of her"
• lose clarity or turn aside especially from the main subject of attention or course of argument in writing, thinking, or speaking
• To wander, as from a direct course; to deviate, or go out of the way.
• To wander from company or outside proper limits; to rove or roam at large; to go astray.
• To wander from the path of duty or rectitude; to err.
• To cause to stray; lead astray.

Adjective Satellite

• not close together in time
  • "a few stray crumbs"
• (of an animal) having no home or having wandered away from home
  • "a stray calf"
  • "a stray dog"

Adj

• Having gone astray; strayed; wandering
• In the wrong place; misplaced.

Examples

• a stray bullet
• a stray comma
• He vowed not to stray from his strategy, despite tempting but low-scoring words.
• The alley is full of stray cats rummaging through the garbage.
• waifs and strays

Synonyms

cast, digress, divagate, drift, err, isolated, ramble, range, roam, roll, rove, swan, tramp, vagabond, wander

Antonyms

collared

Related Words

astray, estray

Anagrams of stray