Strag·gle v. i. [imp. & p. p. Straggled p. pr. & vb. n. Straggling ]
1. To wander from the direct course or way; to rove; to stray; to wander from the line of march or desert the line of battle; as, when troops are on the march, the men should not straggle.
2. To wander at large; to roam idly about; to ramble.
The wolf spied out a straggling kid. --L'Estrange.
3. To escape or stretch beyond proper limits, as the branches of a plant; to spread widely apart; to shoot too far or widely in growth.
Trim off the small, superfluous branches on each side of the hedge that straggle too far out. --Mortimer.
4. To be dispersed or separated; to occur at intervals. “Straggling pistol shots.”
They came between Scylla and Charybdis and the straggling rocks. --Sir W. Raleigh.