From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishstragglestrag‧gle /ˈstræɡəl/ verb [intransitive] 1 SLOWif the people in a group straggle somewhere, they go there fairly slowly and with large spaces between themstraggle in/into/through etc The children were beginning to straggle in from the playground.straggle behind Ali straggled behind, carrying the shopping.2 UNTIDYto move, grow, or spread out untidily in different directions thin, black, straggling hairstraggle along/across/down etc Unpainted wooden buildings straggle along the main road out of town.→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
straggle• I loved the row of collard greens straggling across the garden.• Her hair straggled around her face.• And got heavier as they left the small station and straggled down a steep, cinder path.• Their last surviving companion straggled in after them; he had found his way alone.• A straggling line of women and children on the move with their meager possessions atop their heads.• One by one the travelers were straggling out of Customs.• His vignettes depict scenes of trapped journalists, straggling soldiers and gruesome battles.• I imagined solemn covens chanting, straggling torchlight processions winding up to mountain tops, stone circles, sacred trees and springs.• They had been moving in a group, or trying to: actually, they had straggled widely at times.straggle in/into/through etc• The patients sit down when he does; then the little nurses arid the residents straggle in.• Their last surviving companion straggled in after them; he had found his way alone.• Soon the rest of the girls would straggle in, the mail would arrive and another week would be under way.straggle along/across/down etc• And got heavier as they left the small station and straggled down a steep, cinder path.• Copses of beech and alder appeared, straggling along the banks with their roots lost in a tangle of briars and bracken.• I loved the row of collard greens straggling across the garden. 