stray

Definition

Any domestic animal that lacks an enclosure, proper place, or company, but that instead wanders at large or is lost; an estray.

Etymology

From Middle English stray, strey, from Anglo-Norman estray, stray, Old French estrai, from the verb (see below).

Example Sentences

• "But vvhat a vvretched, and diſconſolate Hermitage is that Houſe, vvhich is not viſited by thee [God], and vvhat a VVayue, and Stray is that Man, that hath not thy Markes vpon him?"
• "waifs and strays"
• "This invention relates broadly to radio communication, but more particularly to a radio receiving system used for the reception of high frequency current signals wherever they are subject to interference from "static" or strays of an untuned or aperiodic character."

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