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straggle

 - 3 dictionary results

strag⋅gle

  [strag-uhl]
Use straggle in a Sentence
–verb (used without object), -gled, -gling.
1. to stray from the road, course, or line of march.
2. to wander about in a scattered fashion; ramble.
3. to spread or be spread in a scattered fashion or at irregular intervals: The trees straggle over the countryside.
Origin:
1350–1400; ME straglen < ?

Related forms:
straggler, noun
strag⋅gling⋅ly, adverb
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To straggle
strag·gle   (strāg'əl)   
intr.v.   strag·gled, strag·gling, strag·gles

  1. To stray or fall behind.

  2. To proceed or spread out in a scattered or irregular group.

n.  A scattered or disorderly group, as of people or things.

[Middle English straglen, to wander.]
strag'gler n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

straggle 
c.1400, "to wander from the proper path, to rove from one's companions," perhaps from a Scand. source (cf. dialectal Norw. stragla "to walk laboriously"), or a frequentative of straken "to move, go." Specifically of soldiers from 1529.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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