Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A stray.
- intransitive verb To stray.
from The Century Dictionary.
- To stray.
- noun A tame beast, or valuable animal, as a horse, ox, or sheep, which is found wandering or without an owner; a beast supposed to have strayed from the power or the inclosure of its owner.
- noun Figuratively, anything which has strayed away from its owner.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- intransitive verb obsolete To stray.
- noun (Law) Any valuable animal, not wild, found wandering from its owner; a stray.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun law An
animal that hasescaped from itsowner ; a wandering animal whose owner is unknown. An animal cannot be an estray when on the range where it was raised, and permitted by its owner to run. A lost animal whose owner is known to the party at hand is not an estray. - noun archaic
Stray . - verb archaic To stray.
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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They soon stocked it from the "estray" animals in the street.
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Such "estray" or "feral" horses are not covered by the 1971 law that protects established herds of free-roaming mustangs.
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No queerer estray ever drifted along the stream of life.
CHAPTER III 2010
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Tamím spake as follows: I went out one day in search of an estray and, coming to the waters of the Banu Tayy, saw two companies of people near one another, and behold, those of one company were disputing among themselves even as the other.
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He took the handkerchief from his bosom with an air; and kissing it, presented it to her, saying, “This happy estray, thus restored, begs leave, by me, to acknowledge its lovely owner!”
Pamela 2006
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All the day Had been a dreary one at best, and dim Was settling to its close, yet shot one grim Red leer to see the plain catch its estray.
The Dark Tower King, Stephen 2004
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Such a practice, by both the rancher finding the estray and the brand inspector, was regarded as a courtesy of the range, observed by all and rarely abused.
Stands a Calder Man Janet Dailey 1983
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Such a practice, by both the rancher finding the estray and the brand inspector, was regarded as a courtesy of the range, observed by all and rarely abused.
Stands a Calder Man Janet Dailey 1983
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Such a practice, by both the rancher finding the estray and the brand inspector, was regarded as a courtesy of the range, observed by all and rarely abused.
Mistletoe and Holly Janet Dailey 1982
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Such a practice, by both the rancher finding the estray and the brand inspector, was regarded as a courtesy of the range, observed by all and rarely abused.
Mistletoe and Holly Janet Dailey 1982
whichbe commented on the word estray
Pig-latin for rest.
November 21, 2008