stroll
verbEtymology Borrowed from German strollen, a variant of Alemannic German strolchen, from Strolch (“vagabond; rascal”).
1
To wander on foot; to ramble idly or leisurely; to rove.
- In Ancient Times, as Story tells, / The Saints would often leave their Cells, / And ſtrole about, but hide their Quality, / To try good Peoples Hoſpitality.1708, [Jonathan Swift], “The Metamorphosis of Baucis and Philemon, Burlesqu’d; from the 8th Book of Ovid”, in Baucis and Philemon; a Poem. […], London: […] H. Hills, […], published 1709, →OCLC, page 3:
- The turmoil went on—no rest, no peace. [...] It was nearly eleven o'clock now, and he strolled out again. In the little fair created by the costers' barrows the evening only seemed beginning; and the naphtha flares made one's eyes ache, the men's voices grated harshly, and the girls' faces saddened one.1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC, pages 87–88:
2 more examples
- Look around you, all you see are sympathetic eyes Stroll around the grounds until you feel at home1968 April 5, Paul Simon, “Mrs. Robinson”, in Bookends, performed by Simon & Garfunkel:
- More often than not, the best restaurants are found by strolling rather than scrolling.2025 June 14, Robin Van Liebergen, “How not to summer in Marseille”, in FT Weekend (Life & Arts section), London: The Financial Times Ltd., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 19:
2
To go somewhere with ease.
- [A] delighted shout from the children swung him toward the door again. His sister, Mrs. Gerard, stood there in carriage gown and sables, radiant with surprise. "Phil! You! Exactly like you, Philip, to come strolling in from the antipodes—dear fellow!" recovering from the fraternal embrace and holding both lapels of his coat in her gloved hands.1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, “His Own People”, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC, page 15:
3
Slang To walk the streets as a prostitute.
- "Nammers?" She'd told him before of some Vietnamese gang pressuring her to stroll for them. / "Don't even ask. You don't want to know."1998, Joseph Ferone, Boomboom, page 24:
4
To do, obtain, or achieve something in a casual and effortless way.
- My daughter strolled through the exam.
- Derived terms
- strollable, stroller, strollingly, stroll on, strollout