STRAY


Meaning of STRAY in English

I. stray 1 /streɪ/ BrE AmE verb [intransitive]

[ Date: 1200-1300 ; Language: Old French ; Origin: estraier , from Vulgar Latin extragare , from Latin extra- 'outside' + vagari 'to wander' ]

1 . to move away from the place you should be

stray into/onto/from

Three of the soldiers strayed into enemy territory.

2 . to begin to deal with or think about a different subject from the main one, without intending to

stray into/onto/from

We’re straying into ethnic issues here.

This meeting is beginning to stray from the point.

3 . if your eyes stray, you begin to look at something else, usually without intending to

stray to/back/over etc

Her eyes strayed to the clock.

4 . to start doing something that is wrong or immoral, when usually you do not do this

II. stray 2 BrE AmE adjective [only before noun]

1 . a stray animal, such as a dog or cat, is lost or has no home

2 . accidentally separated from other things of the same kind:

One man was hit by a stray bullet and taken to hospital.

III. stray 3 BrE AmE noun [countable]

1 . an animal that is lost or has no home

2 . informal someone or something that has become separated from others of the same kind

⇨ waifs and strays at ↑ waif (2)

Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English.      Longman - Словарь современного английского языка.