straggling

Verb

straggle (third-person singular simple present straggles, present participle straggling, simple past and past participle straggled)

1. (intransitive) To 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.
2. (intransitive) To act in a disorderly and irregular way.
3. Grow or hang messily.
   • The roses had been allowed to straggle across the path.
4. To move along slowly so as to remain some distance behind the person or people in front.
   • In the reverse direction, creature comforts were not closely studied, and the vessel left Antwerp at 1 p.m., to arrive in Harwich at the awkward hour of 2 a.m. The boat train was waiting for the weary stream of passengers, who straggled up George Street, encumbered with luggage, or following...1951 November, K. Westcott Jones, “Parkeston Quay and the Antwerp Continental Service”, in Railway Magazine, page 760

See all 6 meanings of straggle