straggle
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Straggle — Strag gle, v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Straggled}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Straggling}.] [Freq. of OE. straken to roam, to stroke. See {Stroke}, v. t.] 1. To wander from the direct course or way; to rove; to stray; to wander from the line of march or desert… … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
Straggle — Strag gle, n. The act of straggling. [R.] Carlyle. [1913 Webster] … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
straggle — (v.) c.1400, to wander from the proper path, to rove from one s companions, perhaps from a Scandinavian source (Cf. dialectal Norw. stragla to walk laboriously ), or a frequentative of straken to move, go. Specifically of soldiers from 1520s.… … Etymology dictionary
straggle — [v] wander, stray be late, dawdle, drift, lag, loiter, maunder, meander, poke, poke around, ramble, range, roam, rove, scramble, spread, straddle, string out, tail, trail; concept 151 Ant. hurry, run, rush … New thesaurus
straggle — ► VERB 1) trail slowly behind the person or people in front. 2) grow or spread out in an irregular, untidy way. ► NOUN ▪ an irregular and untidy group. DERIVATIVES straggler noun straggly adjective. ORIGIN … English terms dictionary
straggle — [strag′əl] vi. straggled, straggling [ME straglen, prob. for * straklen, freq. of straken, to go about, wander, roam] 1. to stray from the path or course, or wander from the main group 2. to wander or be scattered over a wide area; ramble 3. to… … English World dictionary
straggle — [ stræg(ə)l] ceaseless desperate fierce frantic internecine life and death straggle put up. wage a straggle unending unrelenting violent with for (a straggle against poverty; a straggle for justice; a straggle with one s conscience) … Combinatory dictionary
straggle — strag|gle [ˈstrægəl] v [I] 1.) if the people in a group straggle somewhere, they go there fairly slowly and with large spaces between them straggle in/into/through etc ▪ The children were beginning to straggle in from the playground. straggle… … Dictionary of contemporary English
straggle — [[t]stræ̱g(ə)l[/t]] straggles, straggling, straggled 1) VERB If people straggle somewhere, they move there slowly, in small groups with large, irregular gaps between them. [V prep/adv] They came straggling up the cliff road... [V prep/adv] The… … English dictionary
straggle — UK [ˈstræɡ(ə)l] / US verb [intransitive] Word forms straggle : present tense I/you/we/they straggle he/she/it straggles present participle straggling past tense straggled past participle straggled 1) to grow or spread in an untidy way 2) to move… … English dictionary
