Part 850

Now, until the break of day, Through this house each fairy stray.

Shak.

A sheep doth very often stray.

Shak.

3. Figuratively, to wander from the path of duty or rectitude; to err.

We have erred and strayed from thy ways.

&?;&?;&?; of Com. Prayer.

While meaner things, whom instinct leads, Are rarely known to stray.

Cowper.

Syn. -- To deviate; err; swerve; rove; roam; wander.

Stray, v. t. To cause to stray. [Obs.] Shak.

Stray, a. [Cf. OF. estraié, p. p. of estraier. See Stray, v. i., and cf. Astray, Estray.] Having gone astray; strayed; wandering; as, a strayhorse or sheep.

Stray line (Naut.), that portion of the log line which is veered from the reel to allow the chip to get clear of the stern eddies before the glass is turned. -- Stray mark (Naut.), the mark indicating the end of the stray line.

Stray, n. 1. 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.

Seeing him wander about, I took him up for a stray.

Dryden.

2. The act of wandering or going astray. [R.] Shak.

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Stray"er (?), n. One who strays; a wanderer.

Stre (?), n. Straw. [Obs.] Chaucer.

Streak (?), v. t. [Cf. Stretch, Streek.] To stretch; to extend; hence, to lay out, as a dead body. [Obs. or Prov. Eng. & Scot.]

Streak, n. [OE. streke; akin to D. streek a line, stroke, G. strich, AS. strica, Sw. strek, Dan. streg, Goth. stricks, and E. strike, stroke. See Strike, Stroke, n., and cf. Strake.] 1. A line or long mark of a different color from the ground; a stripe; a vein.

What mean those colored streaks in heaven?

Milton.

2. (Shipbuilding) A strake.

3. (Min.) The fine powder or mark yielded by a mineral when scratched or rubbed against a harder surface, the color of which is sometimes a distinguishing character.

4. The rung or round of a ladder. [Obs.]

Streak, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Streaked (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Streaking.] 1. To form streaks or stripes in or on; to stripe; to variegate with lines of a different color, or of different colors.