straggler
nounUK /ˈstɹæɡlə/ · US /ˈstɹæɡlɚ/
Etymology From straggle + -er.
7 senses
- 1Someone who goes against the direct or proper course, or…
- 2One who falls behind the rest, for example in a race.
- 3One who roams without any settled direction.
- 4A migratory animal found away from its usual range.
- 5A roving vagabond.
- 6Something that shoots, or spreads out, beyond the rest…
- 7Something that stands alone or by itself.
1
Someone who goes against the direct or proper course, or from the company to which they belong.
- She recounted her life in pre-World War II Eastern Europe and how a ragtag band of Red Army stragglers, escaped prisoners of war and Jewish and gentile Resistance fighters — including some women — harassed the Germans behind the Wehrmacht’s front lines in the forests and swamps of what is now Belarus.2021 May 28, Sam Roberts, “Faye Schulman Dies; Fought Nazis With a Rifle and a Camera”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:
2
One who falls behind the rest, for example in a race.
- This isn't the 1970s, when the UK stood out as the European straggler.2025 July 31, Janan Ganesh, “Britain is not a broken society”, in Financial Times, page 17:
3
One who roams without any settled direction.
4
A migratory animal found away from its usual range.
5
A roving vagabond.
6
Something that shoots, or spreads out, beyond the rest, or too far; an exuberant growth.
7
Something that stands alone or by itself.
- Derived terms
- blue straggler, straggler daisy