| 释义 |
▪ I. stray, n.|streɪ|
Also 6 strey, 6 pl. stras. See also straif.
[Two formations: (1) a. AF. stray, estrai, verbal noun f. AF., OF. estraier stray v.2; (2) f. stray v.2]
I.
1. Law. A domestic animal found wandering away from the custody of its owner, and liable to be impounded and (if not redeemed) forfeited: = estray n. (For waifs and strays see waif.)
[1228in Mem. Ripon (Surtees) I. 57 Et habent catalla felonum,..et wrek et weyf, stray, curiam suam et cognicionem de falso judicio.] 1498–9Durham Acc. Rolls (Surtees) 194 Rec. 12 d. pro una ove vocata a hog capta pro 1 le stray in de (sic) Hemyngburgh. 1523Fitzherb. Surv. 29 And if no man come within the yere and the day and to make suffycient proue that the catell is his than it is forfayte to the lorde as a strey. 15..Order for Swans §20 Archæologia XXXII. 427 If the Maister of the Swannes, or his Deputy, do seaze or take vp any Swannes, as strayes for the Kings Maiestie. 1598J. Manwood Laws Forest xv. 86 [The unclaimed beasts] were taken and seised by the Officers of the Forrest, to the vse of the king, as Strayes of the Forrest. 1599B. Jonson Ev. Man out of Hum. i. ii. (1600) C iij b, The Lord of the soile ha's all wefts and straies here, ha's he not? a1634Coke Inst. iv. (1648) 280 No Fowle can be a stray but a Swan. 1711Lond. Gaz. No. 4893/4 A..Horse, and a very little Bay-Nag, were taken up as Strays. 1805Wordsw. Prelude v. 335 Some intermeddler still is on the watch To drive him back, and pound him, like a stray Within the pinfold of his own conceit. 1808Sporting Mag. XXXI. 25 Cattle or horses, which, under the denomination..of strays or damage⁓feasant, are impounded by the Lord of the Manor.
b. transf.
1593Shakes. 2 Hen. VI, iv. x. 27 Heere's the Lord of the soile come to seize me for a stray, for entering his Fee-simple without leaue. 1597Deloney Gentle Craft i. xv. Wks. (1912) 134 If that your heart be fled away, And it be taken for a Stray. 1639Fuller Holy War iii. xiii. 130 Leopoldus Duke of Austria..as being Lord of the soil, seised on this Royall stray [‘this loose lion’ i.e. Richard I]. 1713C'tess of Winchilsea Misc. Poems 259 Shou'd I as a Stray be found, And seiz'd upon forbidden Ground.
2. An animal that has strayed or wandered away from its flock, home, or owner.
c1440Promp. Parv. 478/2 Stray beest þat goethe a-stray, vagula. 1543in Lett. & Papers Hen. VIII, XVIII. ii. 118 For drywyn the mor for stras iiij men iij days..to met and wagys iijs. ijd. c1550Sir J. Cheke Matt. xviii. 13 Wold not he leave nijnti and nijn [sheep] on y⊇ hilles, and go to seek y⊇ strai. 1616W. Browne Brit. Past. ii. iv. 98 A youthfull Shepheard..Missing that morne a sheepe out of his Fold, Carefully seeking round to finde his stray. 1792Horsley Serm. (1816) III. xl. 224 Just as the owner of a large flock is solicitous for the recovery of a single stray. 1797Ht. Lee Canterb. T., Trav. T. (1799) I. 203 Anxiously had she sought the brood, and most carefully had she replaced the little stray. 1887F. Francis Jun. Saddle & Mocassin 161 One of our steers..that got driven off with a bunch of strays which the San Simon boys was taking back. 1899Speaker 23 Dec. 309/2 The sheep are folded—all but three ewes a-missing—Davie..speaks in a disconsolate voice of the three strays in the mountain.
†b. A person who wanders abroad; one who runs from home or employment. Obs.
1557Tottel's Misc. (Arb.) 163 At Bacchus' feast none shall her mete..nor gasyng in an open strete, nor gaddyng as a stray. 1735Dyche & Pardon Dict., Stray, a..Person that is run away from his Discipline, &c.
c. fig. One who has gone astray in conduct, opinion, etc.
1605Sylvester Urania xliii, Anon from error's mazes Keeping th' unsteady, calling back the straies. 1614― Little Bartas 987 The Spirit..Which brings the straies home to Thy holy Fold. 1691Shadwell Scowrers v. 53 No pow'r but Love could thus call back a stray, From all the crooked Paths, to the right way. 1711in 10th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. v. 187 Nor is Heaven such a toy, as to be gained for a song, whatever the strayes of religion think. 1788D. Gilson Serm. ix. 254 Is it [the Church] only to be an open Common—for the reception of every Stray?
d. A homeless, friendless person; an ownerless dog or cat. Also in the phrase waifs and strays: see waif.
1649Valentine & Orson ix. 43 They uttered forth many reproachful words against him, saying, that..he was but a found stray, poore, base, without any knowne Parents or Friends. 1864[F. W. Robinson] Mattie II. 78 A stray whom no one would claim as child, sister, friend. 1889Harper's Mag. Mar. 545/2 There is also a school for strays and truants..which re-enforces the public schools. 1892Daily News 2 Apr. 6/6 Greater facilities are now offered than formerly in conveying the strays to the Home [for Lost Dogs].
e. Something that has wandered from its usual or proper place; something separated from the main body; a detached fragment, an isolated specimen.
1798S. Lee Canterb. T., Young Lady's T. II. 208 It is a stray of my own; composed when I was a little rustic, wandering in the woods. 1824Miss Mitford Village I. 252 The keys, will sometimes be found, with other strays, in that goodly receptacle. 1866Swinburne Poems & Ball. 220 Such dead things..As the sea feeds on, wreck and stray And castaway. 1888Goode Amer. Fishes 111 It is certainly not found in the Gulf of Mexico, unless as a stray. 1891Stevenson Let. W. C. Angus Apr., Wks. 1912 XXV. 70 If you will collect the strays of Robin Fergusson, fish for material, collect any last re-echoing gossip, command me to do what you prefer.
† f. collect. A number of stray beasts; a body of stragglers from an army; fig. those who are astray from the faith. Obs.
1597Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, iv. ii. 120 Strike vp our Drummes, pursue the scatter'd stray. 1611Speed Hist. Gt. Brit. ix. vi. 53 Restore with me Religion and Discipline to the ancient splendor therof..; reduce the stray, enlighten our ignorance, polish our rudenesse. 1717Addison Ovid's Metam., Transf. Battus, [He] cried out, ‘Neighbour, hast thou seen a stray Of bullocks and of heifers pass this way?’
3. Electr. (See quot. 1912.)
1901Westm. Gaz. 16 Dec. 6/3 The general impression in America is..that Marconi has been premature in announcing his success... Thomas Edison..says, ‘Marvellous! marvellous! but let us not forget that there are such things as electric strays.’ 1912Nature 21 Nov. 345/2 Due to atmospheric causes, there is [sic] generally audible in the telephone receiver clicks and noises commonly spoken of as atmospherics or strays.
II.
†4. The action of straying or wandering.
For o strai, on (the) stray, out of stray see astray adv.
a1300–[see astray adv.]. c1400Destr. Troy 6258 Lokis well to þe listis, þat no lede passe! If any stert vpon stray, strike hym to dethe. c140026 Pol. Poems iv. 14 Stoken in presoun as best fro stray. c1440Promp. Parv. 478/2 Stray, or a-stray, vagacio, palacio. 1530Palsgr. 277/1 [In ‘Table of Substantives’] Stray wandring, au large. 1535Act 27 Hen. VIII, c. 7 §2 If..any maner of beaste or quycke cattell..come into any of the said forestes by strayes theffe stolen or otherwise. 1605Shakes. Lear i. i. 212, I would not from your loue make such a stray, To match you where I hate. 1614W. B. Philos. Banq. (ed. 2) 121 Yet in his youth was he accessary to the errour of his yeeres, following the whole sway and stray of youth. 1615R. Brathwait Strappado 10 Lasse it is nothing for maides now adaies For which of them (though modest) hath not straies. 1623Lisle ælfric on O. & N. Test. To the Prince xxxv, As long as these, and Riuers all else-where, Their moulten Crystall poure by crooked strayes Into the Maine. 1793Gentl. Mag. Oct. 913/2 [Art.] A Naturalist's Stray.
5. The right of allowing cattle to stray and feed on common land. north. Also stray of rabbits (see quot. 1877).
1736F. Drake Eboracum i. vii. 240 Land..over which the poor freemen of each ward have a particular stray for their cattle from Michaelmas to Lady-day. 1776Foston Incl. Act 4 Right of stray, or other right. 1828Carr Craven Gloss., Stray, a right of depasturing on commons. 1880Spectator 21 Aug. 1065 The mountain land over which the tenants have had for generations a right of stray for their cattle.
b. A piece of unenclosed land on which there is a common right of pasture: = common n. 5.
At Harrogate, ‘The Stray’ is the name of a large piece of grass land round which the principal houses are built.
1889Harper's Mag. Nov. 843/2 The eight hundred acres, more or less, in six different ‘strays’ without the walls [of York], belonging to the four ancient wards, and on which freemen have exclusive right to depasture their cattle.
6. Naut. Deviation (of a sounding-line) from the perpendicular: = stray-line 2. Also = stray-line 1; in Comb. stray-mark, ‘the mark at the junction of the stray and log lines’ (Adm. Smyth).
1628Digby Voy. Mediterr. (Camden) 91 Sounding from a shippe in a forcible gale is very vncertaine, because of the much stray of the line.
▪ II. stray, a.|streɪ|
[Partly an aphetic variant of astray (cf. lone a. from alone); partly attrib. use of stray n.]
1. Of an animal: That has wandered from confinement or control and goes free; that has straggled from a flock; of a domestic animal, etc., that has become homeless or ownerless. † Also rarely of a person.
1607Topsell Four-f. Beasts 663 His seruants seeing a stray Sow come among them, the owner whereof they did not know, presently they slew her. 1634Milton Comus 315 If your stray attendance [= attendants] be yet lodg'd, Or shroud within these limits. 1671― P.R. i. 315 An aged man..Following..the quest of some stray Ewe. 1832H. Martineau Life in Wilds v. 58 He saw a herd of buffaloes... Arnall determined that if a stray one came within shot, he would take aim at it. 1875Maine Hist. Inst. ix. 261 The right of the lawful possessor of land to..impound stray beasts which are damaging his crops. 1908[Miss E. Fowler] Betw. Trent & Ancholme 143 A little stray lamb who left the fold.
b. fig.
1749Fielding Tom Jones xviii. viii, Whether the good⁓natured world will suffer such a stray-sheep to return to the road of virtue. 1862Goulburn Personal Relig. iv. v. (1873) 287 To seek the stray sheep in the wilderness of the world.
2. Of a cable: Loose, slack. Cf. stray n. 7 and stray-line.
1791Smeaton Edystone L. §128 Hill's company were employed on board the buss, heaving the stray cable [etc.].
3. Of a person or thing: Separated from the main body; occurring away from the regular course or habitat; isolated.
1796–1842Wordsw. Borderers ii. 766, I was going To waken our stray Baron. a1834Newman Par. Serm. (1836) III. xxii. 360 In the cavern, or the desert, or the mountain, where God's stray servants lived. 1837Carlyle Fr. Rev. I. v. vi, Their infinite hum waxing ever louder, into imprecations, perhaps into crackle of stray musketry. 1849W. S. Mayo Kaloolah vii. (1850) 65 The little medical knowledge that I had picked up by stray reading. 1867H. Latham Black & White 22 In one of the corridors we fell in with a stray Professor, who..showed us over the whole building. 1872Jenkinson Guide Eng. Lakes (1879) 318 The desolate grandeur of the scenery which there meets the eye of the stray visitor. 1873Tristram Moab iii. 39 Not even a stray salsola or salicornia to relieve the flat sand beds. 1907J. A. Hodges Elem. Photogr. (ed. 6) 33 The detection of stray beams of light coming from chinks and cracks in the door.
†4. Strolling, vagrant. Obs. rare.
1620in Southampton Court Leet Rec. (1907) I. 578 The spoyle therof is Cheifelie occasioned by the sufferinge of Straye players to acte their enterludes ther.
5. Electr. (See quots.)
1893Sloane Electr. Dict., Stray Field. In a dynamo or motor the portion of the field whose lines of force are not cut by the armature windings. Ibid., Stray Power. The proportion of the energy wasted in driving a dynamo, lost through friction and other hurtful resistances.
▪ III. stray, v.1 Obs. exc. dial.|streɪ|
Also 5 strie.
[OE. stréᵹan (*stríeᵹan, *stríᵹan) = Goth. straujan, f. Teut. root *strau-: *streu-: see strew v.]
trans. To strew.
c1000Seafarer 97 (Gr.) Þeah þe græf wille golde streᵹan. c1440Pallad. on Husb. iv. 670 For rayn, in sonne yf thou ne mayst hem drie, Hote askis may this fleykis vnder strie In house in stede of sonne. Ibid. xii. 381, 507. 1560 Ludlow Churchw. Acc. (Camden) 95 For russes to straye the seate before the pilpett. 1658A. Fox tr. Würtz Surg. i. iv. 13 They cause thereby infinite wrongs,..as if they had strayed the wounds full of venom. Ibid. i. iv. 13 When you stray that pouder into [it.] Ibid., Must not the wound being straid full, be bound up. Ibid. i. iv. 14 The in-strayed pouder. 1886Cheshire Gloss., Stray, to strew, to scatter.
▪ IV. stray, v.2|streɪ|
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 n. 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. c1330R. 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. 1338― Chron. (1725) 219 [Edwardus evasit de carcere Herfordiæ.] In to þe watere he straied, & passed wele þat flode. c1450Cov. Myst. (1841) 74 Go do what ȝe lyst; se ȝour bestys not stray. a1513Fabyan Chron. (1811) 484 Sir Iohn de Vyenne, encountred l. sperys and xx. archers that were strayed frome theyr hoste. 1573–80Tusser Husb. (1878) 40 Go stie vp thy Bore, least straying abrode, ye doo see him no more. 1590Sir J. Smyth Disc. Weapons 11 b, That no man vpon paine of death being landed, shall straggle or stray abroad. 1653W. Ramesey Astrol. Restored 173 If thou wouldst buy..Swans..to remain or keep from straying, let Scorpio be preferred. 1667Milton P.L. iii. 476 Here Pilgrims roam, that stray'd so farr to seek In Golgotha him dead, who lives in Heav'n. 1704–13Pope Windsor Forest 165 Here too, 'tis sung, of old Diana stray'd, And Cynthus' top forsook for Windsor shade. 1722Diaper tr. Oppian's Halieut. i. 658 Sea-Calves by Night far from the Waters stray. 1831James Phil. Augustus I. ii, Has thy falcon strayed? Say, 'twas a vile bird..and call it a good loss. 1879Froude 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. 1557T. Phaer æneid vii. (1558) T iij b, Poison..Whiche from that serpent shed, & al her lymmes infecting straied. 1697Dryden Virg. Georg. ii. 507 Be bold To lop the disobedient Boughs, that stray'd Beyond their Ranks. 1738Gray Propertius ii. i. 8 If the loose Curls around her Forehead play, Or lawless, o'er their Ivory Margin stray. 1855Orr'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. 1873Burton 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.
1398Trevisa 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]. c1425Castle Persev. 2052 in Macro Plays 138 Hys enmys strayen in þe strete, to spylle man with spetows spot. c1440Promp. Parv. 478/2 Strayyn, or gon a-stray, palo, vagor. 1530Palsgr. 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. 1556Hoby tr. Castiglione's Courtier Ep. Transl. (1577) A ij, This Courtyer hath long strayed about this realme. 1590Spenser 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. 1610Shakes. Temp. i. ii. 417 He hath lost his fellowes, And strayes about to finde 'em. 1632Milton L'Allegro 72 Russet Lawns, and Fallows Gray, Where the nibling flocks do stray. 1697Dryden Virg. Georg. iv. 158 When the Swarms are eager of their Play, And loath their empty Hives, and idly Stray. 1742Gray Eton 13 Ah fields belov'd in vain, Where once my careless childhood stray'd. 1789W. L. Bowles Sonn. Cherwell, Cherwell, how pleas'd along thy willow'd edge Erewhile I stray'd. 1850Tennyson In Mem. cii. 14 Yea, but here Thy feet have stray'd in after hours With thy lost friend among the bowers. 1866A. J. 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.
1647Cowley Mistr., Change i, Love walks the pleasant Mazes of her Hair; Love does on both her Lips for ever stray. 1750Gray Elegy 74 Their sober wishes never learn'd to stray. 1789Cowper 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. 1831James Phil. Augustus I. iv, Through the mazes of whose hair his other hand was straying. 1842Browning Pied Piper vi, And his fingers, they noticed, were ever straying As if impatient to be playing Upon this pipe. 1873Helps 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. 1909Stacpoole Pools of Silence xxx, These thoughts..just came and strayed across his mind.
c. Of a stream: To meander.
1591Shakes. Two Gent. ii. vii. 31 And so by many winding nookes he [sc. the current] straies..to the wilde Ocean. 1643Denham Cooper's H. 160 Where Thames amongst the wanton Vallies strays. 1700Dryden Acis, Polyph., & Galatea 78 More clear than Ice, or running Streams, that stray Through Garden Plots. 1754Gray 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.
1613Heywood Silver Age iii. i. G 1 His maw vnstaunch't He still the thicke Nemean groues doth stray. 1729Savage Wanderer ii. 106 To his my Sighs, to his my Tears reply! I stray o'er all the Tomb a watry Eye! 1844A. Maclagan Scotch Blue-bell 29 How oft wi' rapture ha'e I strayed The mountain's heather crest.
3. intr. To wander from the direct way, deviate.
1561Hoby tr. Castiglione's Courtier i. (1577) E iij, As he that walketh in the darke..and therefore many tymes strayeth from the right way. 1590Spenser F.Q. i. i. 10 When weening to returne, whence they did stray, They cannot finde that path. 1593Shakes. Rich. II, i. iii. 206 Farewell (my Liege) now no way can I stray, Saue back to England, all the worlds my way. 1604E. G[rimstone] D'Acosta's Hist. Indies iv. xxx. 291 Being straied in the mountaines, not knowing which way he shoulde passe. 1912J. 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.
c1325Metr. Hom. (1862) 52 Bot in our gat lis Satenas..And spies ful gern ef we straye, And haldes noht the riht way. 1457Harding Chron. in Eng. Hist. Rev. (1912) Oct. 740 Scotland hool, which shulde your Reule obaye As Souereyn lorde, for whiche thay prowdly stray. 1548Udall, 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]. 1690Prior Consid. 88th Ps. iii, Nor refuge could I find, nor friend abroad, Straying in vice, and destitute of God. 1712–14Pope Rape Lock i. 91 Oft, when the world imagine women stray, The Sylphs thro' mystic mazes guide their way. 1780Cowper Doves i, Reas'ning..Man yet mistakes his way, While meaner things, whom instinct leads, Are rarely known to stray. 1831N. P. Willis Brown University 32 A heavenward spirit, straying oftentimes, But never widely. 1902V. 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.
1390Gower Conf. III. 371, I was out of mi sounee affraied, Wherof I sih my wittes straied, And gan to wclepe hem hom ayein. 1577Grange Golden Aphrod. L j, But why seeme I thus to stray from my texte? 1581G. Pettie Guazzo's Civ. Conv. ii. (1586) 56 b, It is a thing unseemely..in talke to straye to farre from fit and usuall matters. 1709Pope Ess. Crit. 104 Then Criticism the Muses hand⁓maid prov'd, To dress her charms, and make her more belov'd: But following wits from that intention stray'd. 1766Goldsm. Vic. W. xiv, But, sir, I ask pardon, I am straying from the question. 1813Scott 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.
1561T. Hoby tr. 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. 1590Shakes. Com. Err. v. i. 51 Hath not else his eye Stray'd his affection in vnlawfull loue?
▪ V. stray
obs. Sc. form of straw. |