1
a
: a domestic animal that is wandering at large or is lost
b
: a person or thing that strays
2
[Middle English, from straien to stray] archaic
: the act of going astray
strayed; straying; strays
: wander: such as
a
: to wander from company, restraint, or proper limits
b
: to roam about without fixed direction or purpose
c
: to move in a winding course : meander
d
: to move without conscious or intentional effort
eyes straying absently around the room
e
: to become distracted from an argument or train of thought
strayed from the point
f
: to wander accidentally from a fixed or chosen route
strayer
noun
Synonyms
Examples of stray in a Sentence
Noun
Both of her cats were strays that she found wandering in the neighborhood.
Verb
The airplane strayed off course.
our straying son swears he's returned to the straight and narrow
Adjective
stray sightings of UFO's, none of which have been rigorously analyzed by scientists
Recent Examples on the Web
The Arizona Republic, 7 June 2024
Already on Tuesday, firefighters were hard at work keeping stray sparks from igniting land swaths of grassland across the capital region.
—Camila Pedrosa, Sacramento Bee, 4 June 2024
Adam Mansuroglu, WWD, 14 June 2024
Against this backdrop, nearly everyone straying from US equities is subject to a sense of missing out.
—Ryan Hogg, Fortune, 10 June 2024
Thomas Tracy, New York Daily News, 27 June 2024
Cats lapping milk among baskets of sweet breads, perhaps a stray butterfly or bird landing on a pitcher or the edge of a dish.
—Hazlitt, 26 June 2024
See all Example Sentences for stray 
Noun
The five-years-young Chihuahua mix was brought to the Arizona Humane Society as an injured stray in early June after a Good Samaritan took her to a local emergency vet.
—The Arizona Republic, 7 June 2024
Already on Tuesday, firefighters were hard at work keeping stray sparks from igniting land swaths of grassland across the capital region.
—Camila Pedrosa, Sacramento Bee, 4 June 2024
Verb
This rarity of a color story embraced by several luxury labels can be seen as a natural progression to feed the consumer’s desire for something new and wearable while not straying too far from fashion‘s minimalist aesthetic of the moment.
—Adam Mansuroglu, WWD, 14 June 2024
Against this backdrop, nearly everyone straying from US equities is subject to a sense of missing out.
—Ryan Hogg, Fortune, 10 June 2024
Adjective
Two men were shot — and a passing MTA bus caught a stray bullet — in Harlem Wednesday night.
—Thomas Tracy, New York Daily News, 27 June 2024
Cats lapping milk among baskets of sweet breads, perhaps a stray butterfly or bird landing on a pitcher or the edge of a dish.
—Hazlitt, 26 June 2024
See all Example Sentences for stray
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'stray.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near stray
Cite this Entry
“Stray.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/stray. Accessed 7 Jul. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
stray
1 of 3 noun1
: a domestic animal that is wandering loose or is lost
2
: a person or thing that strays
stray
2 of 3 verb1
: to wander from a group or from the proper place : roam
the dog strayed from the yard
2
: to wander from a fixed or chosen route or at random
accidentally strayed off the path
3
: to become distracted from an argument or chain of thought
strayed from the point
strayer
noun
stray
3 of 3 adjective1
: having strayed or been lost
a stray dog
2
: occurring in one place and another or at random
a few stray hairs
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