straggle

Plural: straggles

Noun

• a wandering or disorderly grouping (of things or persons)
  • "a straggle of outbuildings"
  • "a straggle of followers"
• An irregular, spread-out group.
• An outlier; something that has strayed beyond the normal limits.

Verb

Verb Forms: straggled, straggling, straggles

• To stray or wander from the main group; to spread out unevenly.
• wander from a direct or straight course
• go, come, or spread in a rambling or irregular way
• To stray, rove, or wander from a normal course and others of its kind.
• To act in a disorderly and irregular way.
• To move along slowly so as to remain some distance behind the person or people in front.

Examples

• He straggled away from the crowd and went off on his own.
• The opponent’s words started to STRAGGLE all over the board, with no clear strategy.

Synonyms

depart, digress, sidetrack, sprawl

Anagrams of straggle