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Stray vs Path - What's the difference?

stray | path |

In transitive terms the difference between stray and path

is that stray is to cause to stray while path is to make a path in, or on (something), or for (someone).

As nouns the difference between stray and path

is that stray is any domestic animal that has an enclosure, or its proper place and company, and wanders at large, or is lost; an estray while path is a trail for the use of, or worn by, pedestrians.

As verbs the difference between stray and path

is that stray is to wander, as from a direct course; to deviate, or go out of the way while path is to make a path in, or on (something), or for (someone).

As an adjective stray

is having gone astray; strayed; wandering; as, a stray horse or sheep.

stray

English

Noun

(en noun)
  • Any domestic animal that has an enclosure, or its proper place and company, and wanders at large, or is lost; an estray.
  • (figuratively) One who is lost, either literally or metaphorically.
  • The act of wandering or going astray.
  • (historical) An area of common land or place administered for the use of general domestic animals, i.e. "the stray"
  • Verb

    (en verb)
  • To wander, as from a direct course; to deviate, or go out of the way.
  • * Denham
  • Thames among the wanton valleys strays .
  • To wander from company, or from the proper limits; to rove at large; to roam; to go astray.
  • (figurative) To wander from the path of duty or rectitude; to err.
  • * November 2 2014 , Daniel Taylor, " Sergio Agüero strike wins derby for Manchester City against 10-man United," guardian.co.uk
  • It was a derby that left Manchester United a long way back in Manchester City’s wing-mirrors and, in the worst moments, straying dangerously close to being their own worst enemy.
  • To cause to stray.
  • * 1591 , , V. i. 51:
  • Hath not else his eye / Strayed his affection in unlawful love,

    Synonyms

    * deviate

    Adjective

    (-)
  • Having gone astray; strayed; wandering; as, a stray horse or sheep.
  • In the wrong place; misplaced.
  • a stray comma

    Derived terms

    * stray line * stray mark

    References

    Anagrams

    * * *

    path

    English

    (wikipedia path)

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A trail for the use of, or worn by, pedestrians.
  • * (John Dryden)
  • The dewy paths of meadows we will tread.
  • * , chapter=1
  • , title= Mr. Pratt's Patients, chapter=1 , passage=I stumbled along through the young pines and huckleberry bushes. Pretty soon I struck into a sort of path that, I cal'lated, might lead to the road I was hunting for. It twisted and turned, and, the first thing I knew, made a sudden bend around a bunch of bayberry scrub and opened out into a big clear space like a lawn.}}
  • A course taken.
  • * 1900 , , , Chapter I,
  • Just before Warwick reached Liberty Point, a young woman came down Front Street from the direction of the market-house. When their paths converged, Warwick kept on down Front Street behind her, it having been already his intention to walk in this direction.
  • (paganism) A Pagan tradition, for example witchcraft, Wicca, druidism, Heathenry.
  • A metaphorical course.
  • A method or direction of proceeding.
  • * Bible, Psalms xxv. 10
  • All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth.
  • * Gray
  • The paths of glory lead but to the grave.
  • (computing) A human-readable specification for a location within a hierarchical or tree-like structure, such as a file system or as part of a URL
  • (graph theory) A sequence of vertices]] from one vertex to another using the arcs ([[edge, edges). A path does not visit the same vertex more than once (unless it is a closed path , where only the first and the last vertex are the same).
  • (topology) A continuous map f from the unit interval I = [0,1] to a topological space X.
  • Synonyms

    * (1): track, trail; see also

    Derived terms

    * bridle path * cross paths * cycle path * footpath * path of least resistance * pathway

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To make a path in, or on (something), or for (someone).
  • * Drayton
  • pathing young Henry's unadvised ways

    References

    * Oxford English Dictionary [draft revision; June 2005]