Dictionary
Thesaurus
Reference
Translate
Web
Related Searches
on Ask.com
Synonyms
Nearby Entries
foray - 5 dictionary results
Foray™ by Office Depot®
 Save on Office Products - Shop Office Depot's Foray™ Product Line
 www.OfficeDepot.com
Foray at Amazon.com
 Save on foray! Qualified orders over $25 ship free
 Amazon.com

for⋅ay

  [fawr-ey, for-ey]
Use foray in a Sentence
–noun
1. a quick raid, usually for the purpose of taking plunder: Vikings made a foray on the port.
2. a quick, sudden attack: The defenders made a foray outside the walls.
3. an initial venture: a successful foray into politics.
–verb (used without object)
4. to make a raid; pillage; maraud.
5. to invade or make one's way, as for profit or adventure: foreign industries foraying into U.S. markets.
–verb (used with object)
6. to ravage in search of plunder; pillage.
Origin:
1350–1400; ME forraien, appar. by back formation from forrayour, forreour, forrier < OF forrier, fourrier, equiv. to fo(u)rr(er), deriv. of fuerre provender (see forage ) + -ier -ier 2

Related forms:
for⋅ay⋅er, noun

Synonyms:
1. attack, assault, invasion, incursion, sortie.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To foray
for·ay   (fôr'ā', fōr'ā', fŏr'ā')   
n.  
  1. A sudden raid or military advance.
  2. A venture or an initial attempt, especially outside one's usual area: an actor's foray into politics.
v.   for·ayed, for·ay·ing, for·ays

v.   intr.
  1. To make a raid.
  2. To make inroads, as for profit or adventure.
v.   tr. Archaic
To pillage in search of spoils.

[Middle English forrai, from forraien, to plunder, probably back-formation from forreour, raider, plunderer, from Old French forrier, from forrer, to forage; see forage.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source

Foray

For"ay\ (?; 277), n. [Another form of forahe. Cf. Forray.] A sudden or irregular incursion in border warfare; hence, any irregular incursion for war or spoils; a raid. --Spenser.

The huge Earl Doorm, . . . Bound on a foray, rolling eyes of prey. --Tennyson.

Foray

For"ay\, v. t. To pillage; to ravage.

He might foray our lands. --Sir W. Scott.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
Cite This Source

foray 
1375, Scottish back-formation of forreyer "raider, forager," from O.Fr. forrier, from forrer "to forage," related to fuerre "fodder" (see forage).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
Search another word or see foray on Thesaurus | Reference
Foray™ by Office Depot®
 Save on Office Products - Shop Office Depot's Foray™ Product Line
 www.OfficeDepot.com
Foray at Amazon.com
 Save on foray! Qualified orders over $25 ship free
 Amazon.com