v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Straggled p. pr. & vb. n. Straggling ] [ Freq. of OE. straken to roam, to stroke. See Stroke, v. t. ] 1. 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 ]

2. To wander at large; to roam idly about; to ramble. [ 1913 Webster ]

The wolf spied out a straggling kid. L'Estrange. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. 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. [ 1913 Webster ]

Trim off the small, superfluous branches on each side of the hedge that straggle too far out. Mortimer. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To be dispersed or separated; to occur at intervals. “Straggling pistol shots.” Sir W. Scott. [ 1913 Webster ]

They came between Scylla and Charybdis and the straggling rocks. Sir W. Raleigh. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The act of straggling. [ R. ] Carlyle. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. One who straggles, or departs from the direct or proper course, or from the company to which he belongs; one who falls behind the rest; one who rambles without any settled direction. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A roving vagabond. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Something that shoots, or spreads out, beyond the rest, or too far; an exuberant growth. [ 1913 Webster ]

Let thy hand supply the pruning knife,
And crop luxuriant stragglers. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Something that stands alone or by itself. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. & n. from Straggle, v. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In a straggling manner. [ 1913 Webster ]