- straggle (v.)
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- early 15c., "to wander from the proper path, stray, to rove from one's companions," perhaps from a Scandinavian source (compare dialectal Norwegian stragla "to walk laboriously"), or a frequentative of Middle English straken "to move, go." Specifically of soldiers, "be dispersed, be apart from the main body," from 1520s. Related: Straggled; straggling.