stray

Definitions

1. 1.To wander from company, or from the proper limits; to rove at large; to roam; to go astray. Now, until the break of day, Through this house each fairy stray. Shak. A sheep doth very often stray. Shak.
2. 2.Figuratively, to wander from the path of duty or rectitude; to err. We have erred and strayed from thy ways. While meaner things, whom instinct leads, Are rarely known to stray. Cowper.
3. 3.To cause to stray. [Obs.] Shak.
4. 4.Having gone astray; strayed; wandering; as, a strayhorse or sheep. Stray line (Naut.), that portion of the log line which is veered from the reel to allow the chip to get clear of the stern eddies before the glass is turned. -- Stray mark (Naut.), the mark indicating the end of the stray line.
5. 5.Any domestic animal that has an inclosure, or its proper place and company, and wanders at large, or is lost; an estray. Used also figuratively. Seeing him wander about, I took him up for a stray. Dryden.
6. 6.The act of wandering or going astray. [R.] Shak.

Source: Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).

Synonyms

Related questions

• What does "stray" mean?

Reverse-dictionary questions

Definition-first questions whose answer is stray.

• What is to wander from company, or from the proper limits; to rove at large; to roam; to go astray. Now, until the break of day, Through this house each fairy stray. Shak. A sheep doth very often stray. Shak called?
• What is figuratively, to wander from the path of duty or rectitude; to err. We have erred and strayed from thy ways. While meaner things, whom instinct leads, Are rarely known to stray. Cowper called?
• What is the act of wandering or going astray. [R.] Shak called?