stray

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. v. To move away from a group, deviate from the correct course, or go beyond established limits.
2. v. To become lost.
3. v. To wander about without a destination or purpose; roam. See Synonyms at wander.
4. v. To follow a winding course; meander.
5. v. To deviate from a moral, proper, or right course; err.
6. v. To become diverted from a subject or train of thought; digress. See Synonyms at swerve.
7. n. One that has strayed, especially a domestic animal wandering about.
8. adj. Straying or having strayed; wandering or lost: stray cats and dogs.
9. adj. Scattered or separate: a few stray crumbs.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. To wander, as from a direct course; deviate or go out of the way or from the proper limits; go astray.
2. To wander from the path of truth, duty, or rectitude; turn from the accustomed or prescribed course; deviate.
3. To move about without or as without settled purpose or direction.
4. Synonyms To straggle.
5. 1 and
6. Wander, Rove, etc. See ramble, v.
7. To cause to stray; mislead; seduce.
8. Having gone astray; strayed; wandering; straggling; incidental.
9. n. Any domestic animal that has left an inclosure or its proper place and company, and wanders at large or is lost; an estray.
10. n. Hence A person or persons astray; a straggler; a truant.
11. n. The act of wandering.
12. n. A pasturage for cattle.
13. n. Property left behind by an alien at his death, and escheated to the king in default of heirs.
14. n. In wireless telegraphy, a disturbance due to fluctuating differences of potential between the top of the antennæ of a receiving station and the earth which sometimes affects the recording instrument and interferes with signaling. Also called an X.

Wiktionary

1. n. Any domestic animal that has an inclosure, or its proper place and company, and wanders at large, or is lost; an estray. Used also figuratively.
2. n. The act of wandering or going astray.
3. n. historical An area of common land or place administered for the use of general domestic animals, i.e. "The Stray"
4. v. To wander, as from a direct course; to deviate, or go out of the way.
5. v. To wander from company, or from the proper limits; to rove at large; to roam; to go astray.
6. v. Figuratively, to wander from the path of duty or rectitude; to err.
7. adj. Having gone astray; strayed; wandering; as, a stray horse or sheep.
8. adj. In the wrong place; misplaced.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. v. To wander, as from a direct course; to deviate, or go out of the way.
2. v. To wander from company, or from the proper limits; to rove at large; to roam; to go astray.
3. v. Figuratively, to wander from the path of duty or rectitude; to err.
4. v. obsolete To cause to stray.
5. adj. Having gone astray; strayed; wandering.
6. n. Any domestic animal that has an inclosure, or its proper place and company, and wanders at large, or is lost; an estray. Used also figuratively.
7. n. rare The act of wandering or going astray.

WordNet 3.0

1. v. wander from a direct course or at random
2. v. move about aimlessly or without any destination, often in search of food or employment
3. v. lose clarity or turn aside especially from the main subject of attention or course of argument in writing, thinking, or speaking
4. adj. not close together in time
5. n. an animal that has strayed (especially a domestic animal)
6. adj. (of an animal) having no home or having wandered away from home