Hypertext Webster Gateway: "straggle"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Straggle \Strag"gle\, n.
The act of straggling. [R.] --Carlyle.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
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.
2. To wander at large; to roam idly about; to ramble.
The wolf spied out a straggling kid. --L'Estrange.
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.
Trim off the small, superfluous branches on each
side of the hedge that straggle too far out.
--Mortimer.
4. To be dispersed or separated; to occur at intervals.
``Straggling pistol shots.'' --Sir W. Scott.
They came between Scylla and Charybdis and the
straggling rocks. --Sir W.
Raleigh.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
straggle
n : a wandering or disorderly grouping (of things or persons);
"a straggle of outbuildings"; "a straggle of followers"
v 1: wander from a direct or straight course [syn: {stray}, {sidetrack},
{depart}, {digress}]
2: go, come, or spread in a rambling or irregular way;
"Branches straggling out quite far" [syn: {sprawl}]
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