Meanings
- pluralplural onlyHomeless people or animals.
But vvhat a vvretched, and diſconſolate Hermitage is that Houſe, vvhich is not viſited by thee [God], and vvhat a VVayue, and Stray is that Man, that hath not thy Markes vpon him?
[1624, John Donne, “13. Prayer”, in Deuotions upon Emergent Occasions, and Seuerall Steps in My Sicknes: […], London: […] A[ugustine] M[atthews] for Thomas Iones, →OCLC, page 3292 more examples
One thing I must not omit to mention—her passionate love of animals. In the old, good days in Dublin she used to pick up waifs and strays of forlorn doghood and take them to the Dogs' Home. The boys in the street used to shout derision at us: “Go on! wid yer grand hats and ye to be starvin' yer dog!” The sense of humour supported us.
1918, Dora Sigerson Shorter, The Sad YearsA down-to-earth Londoner […] Scodelario, 32, grew up in a council flat in Islington with her Brazilian mum, where a revolving cast of waifs and strays from the motherland were always welcome.
2024 November 25, Hannah J. Davies, “Kaya Scodelario on Skins, scares and sex scenes: ‘I was called an English rose – it really pissed me off’”, in The Guardian, →ISSN
Cite this entry
waifs and strays. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/waifs%20and%20strays
“waifs and strays.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/waifs%20and%20strays. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “waifs and strays,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/waifs%20and%20strays.
Source: waifs and strays on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.