How to use straggle in a sentence

13 example sentences · verb, noun

Straggle means to stray, rove, or wander from a normal course and others of its kind. Example: “He straggled away from the crowd and went off on his own.”

Examples of straggle by meaning

verbTo stray, rove, or wander from a normal course and others of its kind.

He straggled away from the crowd and went off on his own.

verbGrow or hang messily.

The roses had been allowed to straggle across the path.
A few gray wisps straggled from underneath his cap.

verbTo move along slowly so as to remain some distance behind the person or people in front.

The boat train was waiting for the weary stream of passengers, who straggled up George Street, encumbered with luggage, or following burdened porters in the darkness.1951 November, K. Westcott Jones, “Parkeston Quay and the Antwerp Continental Service”, in Railway Magazine, page 760

nounAn irregular, spread-out group.

The admiral strolled onto the field, smoking, followed by a straggle of officers, walking carelessly to symbolize the privileges of rank, but straggling at distances from the admiral strictly regulated by the number of sleeve stripes on each stragger.1951, Herman Wouk, The Caine Mutiny, Doubleday & Company, Inc., page 38
At Milton the road is blocked by yet another Anzac parade, a straggle of people raw-faced in the cold.2005, Joe Bennett, A Land of Two Halves, page 43
Apart from these few rail stations with a duka and a straggle of a few houses there was no town or village.2008, Denis Montgomery, Crest of a Wave, page 205

More sentences with straggle

Her fringe was damp and uncrimped and sticking, like seaweed straggling on a rock, to her forehead.2023, H. Gareth Gavin, Never Was, Cipher Press, page 112. From the entry uncrimped
Her wizened face beneath straggling gray hair gathered in a bun, held the kindest, but rheumiest of faded blue eyes.2014 January 20, Rebeccah Apling, chapter 5, in The Gutenberg Connection, Bloomington, Ind.: WestBow Press, Thomas Nelson & Zondervan…. From the entry rheumy
Her deeply hennaed hair, almost black at the roots, straggled loosely down both sides of her long face.1968, Carl Ruhen, The Key Club, Sydney: Scripts, page 12. From the entry deeply
Her complexion was of an unhealthy yellowish hue, and a few wisps of the same yellowish-hued hair straggled stringily down her thin temples.1903, McClure's Magazine. From the entry stringily
His hair, gray as the underwing of the owl whose note he forged, straggled in uncut disarray from under the drooping rim of a battered and weatherworn hat.1915, James Oliver Curwood, The Hunted Woman. From the entry weatherworn
The sheep were straggling in a manner that meant walking work to round them, and he supposed he would have to yard them tonight, if she didn't liven up.1902, Barbara Baynton, edited by Sally Krimmer and Alan Lawson, Bush Studies (Portable Australian Authors: Barbara Baynton), St Lucia…. From the entry yard

Meaning of straggle

verb To stray, rove, or wander from a normal course and others of its kind.
verb To act in a disorderly and irregular way.
verb Grow or hang messily.

Full definition of straggle

Questions about straggle in a sentence

How do you use straggle in a sentence?: Straggle is used as a verb and noun. For example: “He straggled away from the crowd and went off on his own.”
What is a short sentence with straggle?: “A few gray wisps straggled from underneath his cap.”
What does straggle mean?: Straggle means to stray, rove, or wander from a normal course and others of its kind.

Adapted from Wiktionary: straggle (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Cite this page: “How to use straggle in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/straggle. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.