Also 4–6 straye, 6 straie, (straigh). [Aphetic var. of ASTRAY, ESTRAY vbs., a. OF. estraier:—Rom. *estragare (Pr. estragar), contraction of *estravagare, repr. L. extrā vagārī to wander outside: see EXTRAVAGANT a.
The view that the OF. verb is a derivative of L. strāta STREET sb. is on phonological grounds untenable.]
1. intr. To escape from confinement or control, to wander away from a place, one’s companions, etc. Const. from, into, also with abroad, away, off.
13[?]. E. E. Allit. P., B. 1199. And þay stoken so strayt, þat þay ne stray myȝt A fote fro þat forselet to forray no goudes.
c. 1330. R. Brunne, Chron. Wace (Rolls), 12878. God tent til al his men he tok, When þey astraied, whideward [v.r. where þei straied whidire] þey schok. Ibid. (1338), Chron. (1725), 219. [Edwardus evasit de carcere Herfordiæ.] In to þe watere he straied, & passed wele þat flode.
c. 1450. Cov. Myst. (1841), 74. Go do what ȝe lyst; se ȝour bestys not stray.
a. 1513. Fabyan, Chron. (1811), 484. Sir Iohn de Vyenne, encountred l. sperys and xx archers that were strayed frome theyr hoste.
1573–80. Tusser, Husb. (1878), 40. Go stie vp thy Bore, least straying abrode, ye doo see him no more.
1590. Sir J. Smyth, Disc. Weapons, 11 b. That no man vpon paine of death being landed, shall straggle or stray abroad.
1653. W. Ramesey, Astrol. Restored, 173. If thou wouldst buy … Swans … to remain or keep from straying, let Scorpio be preferred.
1667. Milton, P. L., III. 476. Here Pilgrims roam, that stray’d so farr to seek In Golgotha him dead, who lives in Heav’n.
1704–13. Pope, Windsor Forest, 165. Here too, ’tis sung, of old Diana stray’d, And Cynthus’ top forsook for Windsor shade.
1722. Diaper, trans. Oppian’s Halieut., I. 658.
| Sea-Calves by Night far from the Waters stray, | |
| And sometimes dare to try the sunny Day. |
1831. G. P. R. James, Phil. Augustus, I. ii. Has thy falcon strayed? Say, ’twas a vile bird … and call it a good loss.
1879. Froude, Cæsar, xvii. 287. To keep the legion within the lines, and not to allow any of the men to stray.
1888. ‘J. S. Winter,’ Bootle’s Childr., ix. The four elder children had strayed off to the hall to see what was going on there.
b. of an inanimate thing.
13[?]. E. E. Allit. P., A. 1173. My hede vpon þat hylle was layde, Þer as my perle to grounde strayd.
1557. Phaër, Æneid, VII. (1558), T iij b. Poison … Whiche from that serpent shed, & al her lymmes infecting straied.
1697. Dryden, Virg. Georg. II. 507. Be bold To lop the disobedient Boughs, that stray’d Beyond their Ranks.
1738. Gray, Propertius, II. i. 8. If the loose Curls around her Forehead play, Or lawless, o’er their Ivory Margin stray.
1855. Orr’s Circ. Sci., Inorg. Nat., 43. It has been assumed … that the earth was originally in a state of igneous fusion, from which it has cooled down by radiation…. No one, however, has explained where this lost heat has strayed.
1873. Burton, Hist. Scot., V. lvi. 121. The town had strayed beyond the wall built round it after the defeat at Flodden.
1908. [Miss E. Fowler], Betw. Trent & Ancholme, 13. The Vines strayed down the west side of the old paddock wall.
2. To wander up and down free from control, to roam about. Const. about, along, in, through (a place); also with about adv.
1398. Trevisa, Barth. De P. R., XV. lxix. (1495), 514. Galon people in Affrica stretche fro the south to the Hesperi Occean, whiche men go aboute and stray in desert [L. pervagans in desertis & discurrens].
c. 1425. Castle Persev., 2052, in Macro Plays, 138. Hys enmys strayen in þe strete, to spylle man with spetows spot.
c. 1440. Promp. Parv., 478/2. Strayyn, or gon a-stray, palo, vagor.
1530. Palsgr., 738/1. I straye, I wander about and wot nat whyther I go, je erre.… Yet the boye strayeth alone some where, God gyve grace that a beggar mete nat with him. Ibid. I stray about, as a masterlesse parson doth, je vagabonde.… He doth nought but stray abowt and wyll do no labour in the worlde.
1556. T. Hoby, trans. Castiglione’s Courtier, Ep. Transl. (1577), A ij. This Courtyer hath long strayed about this realme.
1590. Spenser, F. Q., I. iii. 3. Yet she … Farre from all peoples prease, as in exile, In wildernesse and wastfull deserts strayd, To seeke her knight.
1610. Shaks., Temp., I. ii. 417. He hath lost his fellowes, And strayes about to finde ’em.
1632. Milton, L’Allegro, 72. Russet Lawns, and Fallows Gray, Where the nibling flocks do stray.
1697. Dryden, Virg. Georg., IV. 158. When the Swarms are eager of their Play, And loath their empty Hives, and idly Stray.
1742. Gray, Eton, 13. Ah fields belov’d in vain, Where once my careless childhood stray’d.
1789. W. L. Bowles, Sonn. Cherwell. Cherwell, how pleas’d along thy willow’d edge Erewhile I stray’d.
1850. Tennyson, In Mem., cii. 14. Yea, but here Thy feet have stray’d in after hours With thy lost friend among the bowers.
1866. Augusta Wilson, St. Elmo, iii. But you are too young to be straying about in a strange place.
b. of an inanimate thing, the fingers, etc. Also fig. of a person, his thoughts, wishes, etc.
1647. Cowley, Mistr., Change, i. Love walks the pleasant Mazes of her Hair; Love does on both her Lips for ever stray.
1750. Gray, Elegy, 74. Their sober wishes never learn’d to stray.
1789. Cowper, Ann. Memorab., 22. As the bee … So I from theme to theme display’d In many a page historic stray’d.
18[?]. Shelley, Queen of my Heart, iii. How I love to gaze As the cold ray strays O’er thy face.
1831. G. P. R. James, Phil. Augustus, I. iv. Through the mazes of whose hair his other hand was straying.
1842. Browning, Pied Piper, vi. And his fingers, they noticed, were ever straying As if impatient to be playing Upon this pipe.
1873. Helps, Anim. & Mast., i. (1875), 27. It strays from one topic to another, in the most eccentric fashion.
1885. ‘Mrs. Alexander,’ At Bay, i. Again her deft fingers strayed over the notes.
1909. Stacpoole, Pools of Silence, xxx. These thoughts … just came and strayed across his mind.
c. Of a stream: To meander.
1591. Shaks., Two Gent., II. vii. 31. And so by many winding nookes he [sc. the current] straies … to the wilde Ocean.
1643. Denham, Cooper’s H., 160. Where Thames amongst the wanton Vallies strays.
1700. Dryden, Acis, Polyph., & Galatea, 78. More clear than Ice, or running Streams, that stray Through Garden Plots.
1754. Gray, Progr. Poesy, 85. What time, where lucid Avon stray’d, To Him the mighty Mother did unveil Her aweful face.
† d. trans. To wander in, over or through (a place). Also, to cause (the eye) to wander (over something). Obs. or nonce-uses.
1613. Heywood, Silver Age, III. i. G 1. His maw instaunch’t He still the thicke Nemean groues doth stray.
1729. Savage, Wanderer, II. 106. To his my Sighs, to his my Tears reply! I stray o’er all the Tomb a watry Eye!
1844. A. Maclagan, Scotch Blue-bell, 29. How oft wi’ rapture ha’e I stayed The mountain’s heather crest.
3. intr. To wander from the direct way, deviate.
1561. T. Hoby, trans. Castiglione’s Courtier, I. (1577), E iij. As he that walketh in the darke … and therefore many tymes strayeth from the right way.
1590. Spenser, F. Q., I. i. 10. When weening to returne, whence they did stray, They cannot finde that path.
1593. Shaks., Rich. II., I. iii. 206. Farewell (my Liege) now no way can I stray, Saue back to England, all the worlds my way.
1604. E. G[rimstone], D’Acosta’s Hist. Indies, IV. xxx. 291. Being straied in the mountaines, not knowing which way he shoulde passe.
1912. J. L. Myres, Dawn of Hist., ix. 191. A strong inducement to the nomad to stray into the richer pasture.
4. fig. a. To wander from the path of rectitude, to err.
c. 1325. Metr. Hom. (1862), 52. Bot in our gat lis Satenas … And spies ful gern ef we straye, And haldes noht the riht way.
1457. Harding, Chron., in Eng. Hist. Rev. (1912), Oct., 740. Scotland hool, which shulde your Reule obaye As Souereyn lorde, for whiche thay prowdly stray.
1548. Udall, etc., Erasm. Par. Luke xxii. 54–62. Neither was he lyke to haue made any ende of straying out of the righte waye.
1552. [see ERR v.1 2].
1690. Prior, Consid. 88th Ps. iii. Nor refuge could I find, nor friend abroad, Straying in vice, and destitute of God.
1712–4. Pope, Rape Lock, I. 91. Oft, when the world imagine women stray, The Sylphs thro’ mystic mazes guide their way.
1780. Cowper, Doves, i. Reas’ning … Man yet mistakes his way, While meaner things, whom instinct leads, Are rarely known to stray.
1831. N. P. Willis, Brown University, 32. A heavenward spirit, straying oftentimes, But never widely.
1902. Violet Jacob, Sheep-Stealers, xii. It was the direst necessity which had induced George Williams to stray so far across the line of honesty.
b. To wander or deviate in mind, purpose, etc. Said also of the mind or thoughts.
1390. Gower, Conf., III. 371. I was out of mi sounee affraied, Wherof I sih my wittes straied, And gan to wclepe hem hom ayein.
1577. Grange, Golden Aphrod., L j. But why seeme I thus to stray from my texte?
1581. Pettie, trans. Guazzo’s Civ. Conv., II. (1586), 56 b. It is a thing unseemely … in talke to straye to farre from fit and usuall matters.
1709. Pope, Ess. Crit., 104. Then Criticism the Muses handmaid prov’d, To dress her charms, and make her more belov’d: But following wits from that intention stray’d.
1766. Goldsm., Vic. W., xiv. But, sir, I ask pardon, I am straying from the question.
1813. Scott, Rokeby, I. xii. Still from the purpose wilt thou stray! Good gentle friend, how went the day?
† c. trans. (causative.) To cause to err or deviate; to distract. Obs.
1561. T. Hoby, trans. Castiglione’s Courtyer, III. (1577), Q v. We shal know … as touching the vnderstanding of great matters, that they doe not straye oure wittes, but rather quicken them. Ibid., Q vj. The loue of the Damsell Laura sometime strayed him from it.
1590. Shaks., Com. Err., V. i. 51. Hath not else his eye Stray’d his affection in vnlawfull loue?
