Definition

1. Adjective:

   • Having no home or having wandered away from home: Used primarily to describe a domestic animal that is lost or without an owner.
   • Isolated, scattered, or occurring at random: Describes things that are found apart from others or are not part of a main group.

2. Noun:

   • A domestic animal that has wandered away from home and is lost: An animal, such as a cat or dog, that has no owner or home.

3. Verb:

   • To wander away from a set course or proper place: To move away from where one is supposed to be, often becoming lost.
   • To deviate or digress from a subject or path: To move away from the main topic in thought, speech, or writing.
   • To move about without a fixed course or aim: To roam or drift aimlessly.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:

  • We took in a stray cat that was hiding under our porch.
  • Only a few stray clouds dotted the otherwise clear blue sky.

• Noun:

  • The animal shelter cares for many strays.
  • He felt like a stray, far from home and without friends.

• Verb:

  • The hiker warned us not to stray from the marked trail.
  • Her thoughts began to stray during the long, boring lecture.
  • Young people often stray to the city in search of work.

Advanced Usage

• "To stray into/onto something": To accidentally enter or go to a place.
  • The soccer ball strayed onto the neighbor's property.
• "A stray from the path/truth": A metaphorical use meaning a deviation from correct behavior or honesty.
  • His testimony was a stray from the truth.
• "Stray voltage/current" (Technical): An uncontrolled flow of electricity.
  • The engineer checked for stray current in the system.

Variants and Related Words

• Strayer (n): One who strays.
• Astray (adv): Away from the correct path or direction. (e.g., )

Synonyms

• Adjective: Homeless, lost, roaming, scattered, random.
• Noun: Waif, orphan, vagabond.
• Verb: Wander, roam, drift, digress, deviate, err.

Related Phrasal Verbs

• Stray from: To move away or deviate from something.
  • It is important not to stray from the original plan.
• Stray into: To wander or venture into a place, often unintentionally.
  • The conversation strayed into dangerous territory.

Related Idioms

• Waifs and strays: People or animals who are homeless, neglected, or without friends.
  • The charity provides meals for the waifs and strays of the city.
• Stray from the fold: To leave a group, community, or set of beliefs one once belonged to.
  • After college, he strayed from the fold and moved abroad.

Adjective

1. (of an animal) having no home or having wandered away from home
   • a stray calf
   • a stray dog
2. not close together in time
   • isolated instances of rebellion
   • a few stray crumbs

Noun

1. an animal that has strayed (especially a domestic animal)

Verb

1. lose clarity or turn aside especially from the main subject of attention or course of argument in writing, thinking, or speaking
   • She always digresses when telling a story
   • her mind wanders
   • Don't digress when you give a lecture
2. wander from a direct course or at random
   • The child strayed from the path and her parents lost sight of her
   • don't drift from the set course
3. move about aimlessly or without any destination, often in search of food or employment
   • The gypsies roamed the woods
   • roving vagabonds
   • the wandering Jew
   • The cattle roam across the prairie
   • the laborers drift from one town to the next
   • They rolled from town to town