straggle

straggle
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 perhaps from dialect strake «go».

English terms dictionary. 2015.

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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 — index spread Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 …   Law dictionary

  • 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 — [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

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