foray

1 of 2

noun

for·​ay ˈfȯr-ˌā 

ˈfär-,

 also  fȯ-ˈrā,

 or  fə-ˈrā

plural forays

1

: a sudden or irregular invasion or attack for war or spoils : raid

a foray into enemy territory

attempted sneak and surprise forays

—D. D. Eisenhower

2

: an initial and often tentative attempt to do something in a new or different field or area of activity

the novelist's foray into nonfiction

Torres spearheaded his family's first foray into international wine production by purchasing land in Chile's Curicó Valley in 1979.

—Michael Schachner

foray

2 of 2

verb

forayed; foraying; forays

1

intransitive : to make a raid or brief invasion

forayed into enemy territory

Nicaraguan troops were foraying along the frontier …

—George Russell

2

intransitive : to do or attempt something outside one's accustomed sphere : to enter into a new or different field or area of activity

Tesla, known for its high-end electric cars, has forayed into the trucking industry with a Nov. 16 reveal of its latest prototype, the Tesla Semi.

—Meagan Nichols

3

transitive archaic : to ravage in search of spoils : pillage

forayer noun

plural forayers

Did you know?

For centuries, foray referred only to a sudden or irregular invasion or attack, but in the late 19th century it began to venture into gentler semantic territory. While the newer sense of foray still involves a trek into a foreign territory, the travel is figurative: when you make this kind of foray, you dabble in an area, occupation, or pastime that’s new to you. Take the particularly apt example (stay tuned) of mushroom hunting. The likely ancestor of foray is an Anglo-French word referring to the violent sort who do invasion forays, but that word could also refer to a forager—that is, one who wanders in search of food. (Forage has the same etymological source.) Interestingly, foray has seen a resurgence of use connected to its foraging roots, as evidenced by the growing popularity of mycophile-led mushroom “forays” that have been lately popping up like toadstools.

Synonyms

Noun

• descent
• incursion
• inroad
• invasion
• irruption
• raid

Verb

• invade
• overrun
• raid

Examples of foray in a Sentence

Noun

a foray into enemy territory

We made a quick foray into town for some supplies.

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

As longtime sufferers of hay fever, their foray into beekeeping was just a stab at soothing their swollen eyes and streaming nostrils. —Frankie Adkins, WIRED, 10 Apr. 2024

Outside of her forays into that galaxy far, far away, that brand of sharp deadpan comedy is perhaps what the former Princess Leia would become best known for. —Matt Brennan, Los Angeles Times, 8 Apr. 2024

Mathilda is making her official foray into acting this year with a supporting role in The Idea of You and last year, the star opened up about what her mother has taught her about the field. —Bailey Richards, Peoplemag, 7 Apr. 2024

My initial foray was sampling old music my parents used to listen to and setting it to hip-hop beats. —Sarah Khan, Condé Nast Traveler, 5 Apr. 2024

The airline’s foray into dating app territory will match willing passengers and seat them together to see if sparks fly at 30,000 feet. —Alison Fox, Travel + Leisure, 1 Apr. 2024

There’ve been plenty of figures from other music formats — such as Jessica Simpson, Connie Francis and La Toya Jackson — who made brief forays into country, then disappeared. —Tom Roland, Billboard, 26 Mar. 2024

Our first foray into discarding gas was installing a heat pump water heater. —Tik Root, WIRED, 30 Mar. 2024

That bout marked his first foray into the bantamweight ranks. —Trent Reinsmith, Forbes, 29 Mar. 2024

Verb

The Japanese luxury marque first forayed into the marine industry in 2016, creating a one-off Lexus 42 Sport Yacht concept with Marquis Yachts. —Rachel Cormack, Robb Report, 26 Mar. 2024

In 2001, Streep told Entertainment Weekly that The Devil Wears Prada marked her first and only foray into method acting. —Sabienna Bowman, Peoplemag, 25 Feb. 2024

The Louis Vuitton and Dior-owner plans to foray into the entertainment industry worth billions of dollars in a venture called 22 Montaigne Entertainment, a nod to the address of LVMH’s Paris headquarters. —Prarthana Prakash, Fortune Europe, 23 Feb. 2024

The meeting was Putin’s first public assessment of the conflict since Ukrainian forces took the war into Russian territory, with drone strikes on Moscow on May 1 and again on May 30 and shelling and forays across the border in the Belgorod region on May 22. —Peter Rutland, Fortune, 20 June 2023

The streaming landscape is littered with shows assembled from recognizable spare parts, forays far more cynical than Flanagan’s affectionate odes to the literary masters of horror. —Phillip MacIak, The New Republic, 11 Oct. 2023

In recent years, she’s made headlines for testing her chops in dramatic fare, forays into music, becoming a producer and prepping her directorial debut. —Chris Gardner, The Hollywood Reporter, 4 Oct. 2023

Some pairs — like Taye Diggs and Idina Menzel —met prior to foraying into Shondaland, while others — like Kevin McKidd and Danielle Savre — had crossover storylines that turned into real-life love. —Zoey Lyttle, Peoplemag, 14 July 2023

Rather, come for rich Polynesian cultural encounters and forays into lush rainforests to hike to thundering waterfalls. —Terry Ward, Travel + Leisure, 10 July 2023

Word History

Etymology

Verb and Noun

Middle English forrayen, from Anglo-French forreyer, foreer, probably back-formation from *forrier, *forreour forager, raider, from fuerre, foer provender — more at forage

First Known Use

Noun

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 3

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Kids Definition

foray

verb

for·​ay

ˈfȯr-ˌā

: to raid especially in order to steal : pillage

foray noun