straggle

Noun · Verb
Synonyms: sidetrackdepartdigresssprawl

WordNet 3.0

Noun (1)

  1. a wandering or disorderly grouping (of things or persons)“a straggle of outbuildings”“a straggle of followers”

Verb (2)

  1. wander from a direct or straight courseSynonyms: sidetrackdepartdigress
  2. go, come, or spread in a rambling or irregular way“Branches straggling out quite far”Synonyms: sprawl
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Webster's Dictionary (GCIDE)

Straggle \Strag"gle\, n. The act of straggling. [R.] --Carlyle. [1913 Webster]
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 line of battle; as, when troops are on the march, the men should not straggle. --Dryden. [1913 Webster]

2.To wander at large; to roam idly about; to ramble. [1913 Webster]

The wolf spied out a straggling kid.— L'Estrange.[1913 Webster]

3.To escape or stretch beyond proper limits, as the branches of a plant; to spread widely apart; to shoot too far or widely in growth. [1913 Webster]

Trim off the small, superfluous branches on each side of the hedge that straggle too far out.— Mortimer.[1913 Webster]

4.To be dispersed or separated; to occur at intervals. "Straggling pistol shots." --Sir W. Scott. [1913 Webster]

They came between Scylla and Charybdis and the straggling rocks.— Sir W. Raleigh.[1913 Webster]
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