I. verb
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
a stray bullet (= one that someone fires by mistake )
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He was tragically killed by a stray bullet.
a stray cat (= one that has lost its home )
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He found a stray cat and started feeding it.
a stray dog (= a pet dog that is lost )
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He was always bringing home stray dogs.
a stray/wayward curl (= hanging in an untidy way )
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Emily pushed back a stray curl.
stray from/leave the fold
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a former advocate of free market economics who had strayed from the fold
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADVERB
far
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But it can not stray far from water.
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But Ellington, a duke with an imperious streak, never wanted Strayhorn to stray far from his empire.
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Jones explores each in turn, calling on other metaphors to illustrate his points, but never strays far from mainstream physics.
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It seldom strays far from this retreat, feeding on organisms that float by with the current.
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The boy wouldn't have strayed far .
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But the boy wouldn't stray far .
never
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Do women instinctively want to find a mate and never stray ?
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He never strays far from elegant applications of the theory to field and laboratory studies, many of them his own.
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Jones explores each in turn, calling on other metaphors to illustrate his points, but never strays far from mainstream physics.
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Over two years of use, for more than 4,000 tests, it has never strayed beyond the permitted margin of error.
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They will never stray any more.
■ NOUN
path
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His body was left to rot as a warning to others who might be tempted to stray from those paths of righteousness.
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Red learned never to stray from the path or talk to strangers again.
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Remember that if you have strayed from the sensible paths of nutrition on occasion - panic not!
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After you'd allowed Water Gypsy to stray into the path of another boat.
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Many students had strayed from the socialist path and needed to be reminded of the superiority of the socialist system.
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
waifs and strays
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He also made a special study of the outcasts, the waifs and strays of industrial society the vagrants and the idiots.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
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A number of Charles's men were killed because they had strayed out of formation.
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An antimatter atom that strays and touches the container wall would set off a chain-reaction annihilation.
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But many other speakers and writers stray into the firing line.
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Do women instinctively want to find a mate and never stray ?
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Fowler may have been 25 yards out but you could see his antennae pick out Bennett straying off his line.
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I have perhaps strayed away from matters of industry.
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It's still no guarantee that he won't stray .
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They were allowed little opportunity to stray from their group.
II. adjective
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ NOUN
bullet
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Dimples like heavy rain spotted his wings as stray bullets went through, and then he reached the belt of anti-aircraft fire.
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Many people were killed; four white spectators were unintentionally killed by stray bullets .
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A stray bullet hit and killed the baby.
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Five of the stray bullets bracketed him, whining angrily past to star the wall behind him.
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Thirty-two men had got over and the only people hurt had been two patrolling guards hit by stray bullets .
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Probably a stray bullet , I guess.
cat
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The world is full of stray cats , many of them searching hopefully for a new home.
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I was merely about to fire a blank to frighten off some stray cats .
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A tribe of stray cats scattered as I turned into the yard where Ellen's apartment lay.
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A dozen stray cats were asleep under a Con Edison awning and so were two winos.
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By next morning some stray cat had eaten much of his back, so all I could do was measure him.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
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a stray sock
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Four people were killed by stray bullets from the shoot-out.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
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A stray pixel in the eternal bit map.
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Gardeners regularly stroll the grounds, picking up stray pieces of trash and trimming unruly bushes.
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I was merely about to fire a blank to frighten off some stray cats.
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In a typical year about 40 stray Magellanic penguins used to arrive in the Rio area between June and August.
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It soon became apparent that because of an administrative oversight our vehicle had not been insured against stray cattle.
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She had been sustained by the stray wolf.
III. noun
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
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From a starving stray it was transformed into a contented house cat.
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He was some stray who had reminded her of the Scarabae agent.
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It gets the undesirable strays off the streets.
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Jessica, Chris, and I rode along the creek bed looking for strays.
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The family plans to provide a home for the strays.