GNU Collaborative International Dictionary of English

Found 2 definitions

1.       
   Straggle , v. i. [imp. & p. p. Straggled ; p. pr. & vb. n. Straggling .] [Freq. of OE. straken to roam, to stroke. See Stroke, v. t.]
   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
   To wander at large; to roam idly about; to ramble.
   1913 Webster
   The wolf spied out a straggling kid.
   L'Estrange.
   
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   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.
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   Trim off the small, superfluous branches on each side of the hedge that straggle too far out.
   Mortimer.
   
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   To be dispersed or separated; to occur at intervals. “Straggling pistol shots.”
   Sir W. Scott.
   
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   They came between Scylla and Charybdis and the straggling rocks.
   Sir W. Raleigh.
   
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2.       
   Straggle, n. The act of straggling. [R.]
   Carlyle.
   
   1913 Webster