Străg'gle, v. i.

(străg'gl), v. i. [imp. & p. p. STRAGGLED; p. pr. & vb. n. STRAGGLING.] [From stray; Prov. Eng. sträge.]

1. To wander from the direct course or way; to rove; as, when troops are on the march, the men should not straggle.
2. To wander at large without any certain direction or object; to ramble.

The wolf spied a straggling kid. L'Estrange. 3. To escape or stretch beyond proper limits, as the branches of a plant; to spread divaricately; to shoot too far in growth. Trim off the small, superfluous branches on each side of the hedge that straggle out too far. Mortimer. 4. To be dispersed or separated; to occur at intervals or apart from one another. “Straggling pistol-shots.” W. Scott. They came between Scylla and Charybdis and the straggling rocks. Raleigh.