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." Sir W. Scott.
They came between Scylla and Charybdis and the straggling rocks.
Sir W. Raleigh.
Strag"gle, n. The act of straggling. [R.] Carlyle.
Strag"gler (?), n. 1. One who straggles, or departs from the direct or
proper course, or from the company to which he belongs; one who falls
behind the rest; one who rambles without any settled direction.