straggling
AdjectiveWordNet 3.0
Webster's Dictionary (GCIDE)
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]