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Definitions

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

  1. n. A sudden raid or military advance.
  2. n. A venture or an initial attempt, especially outside one's usual area: an actor's foray into politics.
  3. v. To make a raid.
  4. v. To make inroads, as for profit or adventure.
  5. v. Archaic To pillage in search of spoils.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

  1. n. The act of foraging; a predatory excursion.
  2. n. Synonyms Incursion, Raid, etc. See invasion.
  3. To ravage; pillage.
  4. To engage in a foray; pillage.

Wiktionary

  1. n. A sudden or irregular incursion in border warfare; hence, any irregular incursion for war or spoils; a raid.
  2. n. A brief excursion or attempt especially outside one's accustomed sphere.
  3. v. transitive To scour (an area or place) for food, treasure, booty etc.
  4. v. intransitive To pillage; to ravage.

GNU Webster's 1913

  1. n. A sudden or irregular incursion in border warfare; hence, any irregular incursion for war or spoils; a raid.
  2. v. To pillage; to ravage.

WordNet 3.0

  1. n. an initial attempt (especially outside your usual areas of competence)
  2. n. a sudden short attack
  3. v. briefly enter enemy territory
  4. v. steal goods; take as spoils

Etymologies

  1. From Middle English forrayen ("to pillage"), a back-formation of forrayour, forreour, forrier ("raider, pillager"), from Old French forrier, fourrier, a derivative of fuerre ("provender, fodder, straw"), from Frankish *fōdar (“fodder, sheath”), from Proto-Germanic *fōdran (“fodder, feed, sheath”), from Proto-Indo-European *patrom (“fodder”), *pat- (“to feed”), *pāy- (“to guard, graze, feed”). Cognate with Old High German fuotar (German Futter ("fodder, feed")), Old English fōdor, fōþor ("food, fodder, covering, case, basket"), Dutch voeder ("forage, food, feed"), Danish foder ("fodder, feed"), Icelandic fóðr ("fodder, sheath"). More at fodder, food. (Wiktionary)
  2. Middle English forrai, from forraien, to plunder, probably back-formation from forreour, raider, plunderer, from Old French forrier, from forrer, to forage; see forage. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)

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‘foray’ has been looked up 3855 times, loved by 7 people, added to 36 lists, and has a Scrabble score of 11.