estray

estray

English

Etymology

From Middle English astrai, from Anglo-Norman estray, from the Old French verb estraier. Etymological doublet with stray.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ə.stɹeɪ/

Noun

estray (plural estrays)

1. (law) An animal that has escaped from its owner; a wandering animal whose owner is unknown. An animal cannot be an estray when on the range where it was raised, and permitted by its owner to run. A lost animal whose owner is known to the party at hand is not an estray.
2. (archaic) Stray.
   • 1855, Robert Browning, “Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came”, VIII:

     [...] All the day / Had been a dreary one at best, and dim / Was settling to its close, yet shot one grim / Red leer to see the plain catch its estray.

Verb

estray (third-person singular simple present estrays, present participle estraying, simple past and past participle estrayed)

1. (archaic) To stray.
   • 1614, Samuel Daniel, Hymen's Triumph

     With other Maids to fiſh upon the Shoar; Estrays apart, and leaves her Company

Related terms

• astray
• stray

References

• 2006 - For the purpose of this chapter, “estray” means any unbranded cattle, horses, mules, asses, or sheep found running at large or found trespassing upon the premises of another person, or any branded cattle, horses, mules, asses, or sheep found running at large or trespassing upon the premises of another person whose owner cannot be found after a reasonable search, or any llama, ostrich, emu, goat or swine found running at large or trespassing upon the premises of another person whose owner cannot be found after a reasonable search. - Uintah County, UT County Code, 6.48.010
• 2006 - VRWPA finds good adoptive homes for Estray wild horses picked up by the State of Nevada, monitors the horses, the range, and the laws to insure the survivability of a viable, ecologically balanced herd. - Virginia Range Wildlife Protection Association

Anagrams

• Stayer, e-trays, reasty, satyre, starey, stayer, stayre, tyrase, yarest