How to Use straggle in a Sentence

straggle

verb
  • She straggled behind the rest of the group.
  • Branches straggled out and blocked the path.
  • People straggled off the train.
  • The children straggled in from outside.
  • A few tourists and school groups straggle in during the week.
    Paul Schrader, New York Times, 17 May 2018
  • Man, were those straggling fans rewarded with a sight that brought the house down.
    Henry Schulman, SFChronicle.com, 11 Aug. 2019
  • No one but a few straggling right-wingers seem concerned.
    Andrew Sullivan, Daily Intelligencer, 27 Apr. 2018
  • Golfers straggled back and lined up outside the clubhouse for dinner.
    Los Angeles Times, 17 Oct. 2019
  • There was one, a ride-sharing car waiting to make a right turn while people straggled through the crosswalk.
    James Barron, New York Times, 11 Oct. 2019
  • The president, poor Melanie Maepole, tried to call the group to order, but three of the fourteen members straggled in late.
    Leslie Anne Tarabella, AL.com, 16 Aug. 2017
  • As the group approached, the shelter’s glass doors swung open and the migrants straggled through, some carrying kids who were too young to walk.
    Trevor Hughes, USA TODAY, 22 June 2018
  • Many members straggled in days late, having been stranded and delayed by the snow.
    Lillian Cunningham, Washington Post, 12 Feb. 2018
  • My first stop was Hawaii in early ’45, just as guys were straggling back from fierce battles on Iwo Jima.
    Marc Myers, WSJ, 8 May 2018
  • As the students straggle in, those who are about to lead the service gather for a quick prayer, standing on the basketball court near the corner three-point line.
    Freep.com, 8 Oct. 2021
  • Longtime customers still straggle in for beer and alcoholic drinks, but now people come in droves from all over for good food.
    Marilyn Hagerty, Bon Appetit, 6 June 2018
  • Tens of thousands of people have been displaced in recent years along the straggling boundary, which stretches for about 1,200 miles.
    Maria Abi-Habib and Hari Kumar, BostonGlobe.com, 30 May 2018
  • Marckx said the winners will likely finish in about six and a half hours, while some will straggle in after perhaps 16 hours.
    Teri Figueroa, sandiegouniontribune.com, 19 May 2017
  • Late Tuesday evening, some mainstays, including Sloppy Joe’s, kept the doors open for dozens of straggling tourists.
    Joel Achenbach, Washington Post, 7 Sep. 2017
  • In the longer races, some competitors would straggle to the finish line well after Heiden had won and departed.
    Los Angeles Times, 2 Feb. 2022
  • The first lesson to those who straggled in: on a construction site, being on time means being 15 minutes early.
    Rebecca Heilweil, Philly.com, 28 Feb. 2018
  • Separated from their family and each other, each boy found a way to straggle home on his own.
    Mujib Mashal, New York Times, 23 Dec. 2021
  • Felipe Alonso Hoyos, too shy to make conversation with a woman, leans against the wooden bar with a friend, watching dancers straggle in and out.
    San Diego Union-Tribune, 14 May 2019
  • The last straggling commuters heading home Thursday were treated to a Bay Area sunset of epic proportion.
    Patrick May, The Mercury News, 28 June 2019
  • An early winter had set in by November, and the ragged remains of the French army straggled back toward home, with thousands dying from cold, hunger and disease.
    Jason Daley, Smithsonian, 12 July 2019
  • Four years from now, when the U.S. men are straggling through another World Cup qualifying campaign?
    Nancy Armour, USA TODAY, 13 Oct. 2017
  • The Joint Finance Committee finished its work Wednesday before 9 p.m, a contrast with past budgets in which lawmakers straggled home in the harsh light of dawn.
    Patrick Marley, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 7 Sep. 2017
  • These people had crowded into, and on the top of, a few straggling passenger cars that lay uncoupled along the track, in seeming expectation that some one was to come, in due time, and take them off.
    al, 5 June 2020
  • Seattle Computer Products straggled on for a few more years, but finally went under in 1985.
    Jimmy Maher, Ars Technica, 31 July 2017
  • There were no reports of violence until the rally ended and straggling protesters confronted police, who then used tear gas to break up the crowd.
    chicagotribune.com, 27 Aug. 2017
  • New video surfacing from inside a department store shows a handful of straggling shoppers heading for the exits as Dillard's employees attempt to lock the entrance to the rest of the mall.
    Jay R. Jordan, Houston Chronicle, 12 Aug. 2019

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'straggle.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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