straggle

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 ]