Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Straggle \Strag"gle\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Straggled}; p. pr. &
   vb. n. {Straggling}.] [Freq. of OE. straken to roam, to
   stroke. See {Stroke}, v. t.]
   1. To wander from the direct course or way; to rove; to
      stray; to wander from the line of march or desert the line
      of battle; as, when troops are on the march, the men
      should not straggle. --Dryden.

   2. To wander at large; to roam idly about; to ramble.

            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.

Straggling \Strag"gling\,
   a. & n. from {Straggle}, v.

Source : WordNet®

straggling
     adj : spreading out carelessly (as if wandering) in different
           directions; "sprawling handwriting"; "straggling
           branches"; "straggly hair" [syn: {sprawling}, {straggly}]