straggle

1 of 2

verb

strag·​gle ˈstra-gəl How to pronounce straggle (audio)
straggled; straggling ˈstra-g(ə-)liŋ How to pronounce straggle (audio)

intransitive verb

1
: to wander from the direct course or way : rove, stray
2
: to trail off from others of its kind
little cabins straggling off into the woods
straggler noun

straggle

2 of 2

noun

: a straggling group (as of persons or objects)

Examples of straggle in a Sentence

Verb The children straggled in from outside. People straggled off the train. She straggled behind the rest of the group. Branches straggled out and blocked the path.
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Verb
As soon as the lights dimmed at the band’s United Center show, images of marine life, of straggling sea turtles, flickered across a balmy blue LED wall. M.t. Richards, Chicago Tribune, 30 Apr. 2023 Its wide-verging lanes wind between stone walls and flattish meadows to straggling villages like Shipton Moyne, whose modest church harbors a startlingly beautiful Elizabethan monument. Town & Country, 28 Apr. 2023
Noun
Famine devastates Bengal, killing more than three million people; Datta will see the starving straggle into the stairwells of his apartment building to avoid being scooped up by vans sent to drive them out to the countryside to die. Maya Jasanoff, Foreign Affairs, 11 Dec. 2018 Cloistered from civilization by a steep 900-foot climb over loose and jutting rock, the glade goes unseen by most everyone but a straggle of hikers on the Appalachian Trail, the 2,180-mile footpath carved into the roofs of 14 eastern states. Earl Swift, Outside Online, 2 Sep. 2015 See all Example Sentences for straggle 

Word History

Etymology

Verb

Middle English straglen

First Known Use

Verb

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Noun

1865, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of straggle was in the 15th century

Dictionary Entries Near straggle

Cite this Entry

“Straggle.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/straggle. Accessed 24 Nov. 2024.

Kids Definition

straggle

verb
strag·​gle
ˈstrag-əl
straggled; straggling
-(ə-)liŋ
1
: to wander from a course or way : rove, stray
2
: to trail off from others of its kind
little cabins straggling off into the woods
straggler
-(ə-)lər
noun
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