stray

/streɪ/

/streɪ/

Other forms: strayed; straying; strays

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.

Definitions of stray

1. verb

   wander from a direct course or at random
   “The child strayed from the path and her parents lost sight of her”

   synonyms: drift, err

   cast, drift, ramble, range, roam, roll, rove, swan, tramp, vagabond, wander

   move about aimlessly or without any destination, often in search of food or employment

   type of:

   go, locomote, move, travel

   change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically
2. verb

   move about aimlessly or without any destination, often in search of food or employment
   synonyms: cast, drift, ramble, range, roam, roll, rove, swan, tramp, vagabond, wander

   drift, err

   wander from a direct course or at random

   wander

   go via an indirect route or at no set pace

   types:

   maunder

   wander aimlessly

   gad, gallivant, jazz around

   wander aimlessly in search of pleasure

   type of:

   go, locomote, move, travel

   change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically
3. verb

   lose clarity or turn aside especially from the main subject of attention or course of argument in writing, thinking, or speaking
   synonyms: digress, divagate, wander

   type of:

   tell

   let something be known
4. noun

   an animal that has strayed (especially a domestic animal)
   type of:

   domestic animal, domesticated animal

   any of various animals that have been tamed and made fit for a human environment
5. adjective

   (of an animal) having no home or having wandered away from home
   “a stray calf”

   “a stray dog”

   synonyms:

   lost

   no longer in your possession or control; unable to be found or recovered
6. adjective

   not close together in time
   “a few stray crumbs”

   synonyms: isolated

   sporadic

   recurring in scattered and irregular or unpredictable instances