Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Straggle
Strag′gle
,Verb.
I.
[
imp. & p. p.
Straggled
; p. pr. & vb. n.
Straggling
.] 1.
To wander from the direct course or way; to rove; to stray; to wander from the line of march or desert the line of battle;
as, when troops are on the march, the men should not
. straggle
Dryden.
2.
To wander at large; to roam idly about; to ramble.
The wolf spied out a
straggling
kid. L’Estrange.
3.
To escape or stretch beyond proper limits, as the branches of a plant; to spread widely apart; to shoot too far or widely in growth.
Trim off the small, superfluous branches on each side of the hedge that
straggle too far out
. Mortimer.
4.
To be dispersed or separated; to occur at intervals.
“Straggling pistol shots.” Sir W. Scott.
They came between Scylla and Charybdis and the
straggling
rocks. Sir W. Raleigh.
Strag′gle
,Noun.
The act of straggling.
[R.]
Carlyle.
Webster 1828 Edition
Straggle
STRAGGLE
,Verb.
I.
1.
To wander from the direct course or way; to rove. When troops are on the march, let not the men straggle.2.
To wander at large without an certain direction or object; to ramble.The wolf spied a straggling kid.
3.
To exuberate; to shoot too far in growth. Prune the straggling branches of the hedge.4.
To be dispersed; to be apart from any main body.They came between Scylla and Charybdis and the straggling rocks.
Definition 2024
straggle
straggle
English
Verb
straggle (third-person singular simple present straggles, present participle straggling, simple past and past participle straggled)
- To stray from the road, course or line of march.
- He straggled away from the crowd and went off on his own.
- To wander about; ramble.
- L'Estrange
- The wolf spied out a straggling kid.
- L'Estrange
- To spread at irregular intervals.
- 1907, Harold Bindloss, chapter 7, in The Dust of Conflict:
- Then there was no more cover, for they straggled out, not in ranks but clusters, from among orange trees and tall, flowering shrubs […] .
-
- To escape or stretch beyond proper limits, as the branches of a plant; to spread widely apart; to shoot too far or widely in growth.
- Mortimer
- Trim off the small, superfluous branches on each side of the hedge that straggle too far out.
- Mortimer
- To be dispersed or separated; to occur at intervals.
- Sir Walter Scott
- straggling pistol shots
- Sir Walter Raleigh
- They came between Scylla and Charybdis and the straggling rocks.
- Sir Walter Scott
Derived terms
- (noun) straggler
- (adverb) stragglingly
Translations
to stray from the road
|
to wander about
to spread at irregular intervals
|
|
Noun
straggle (plural straggles)
- The act of straggling.
- 1858 Thomas Carlyle, History of Friedrich II of Prussia
- Nevertheless there is a straggle of pungent sense in it, — like the outskirts of lightning, seen in that dismally wet weather, which the Royal Party had.
- 1858 Thomas Carlyle, History of Friedrich II of Prussia