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Definition of astray adverb from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

astray

adverb
 
/əˈstreɪ/
 
/əˈstreɪ/
Word OriginMiddle English (in the sense ‘distant from the correct path’): from an Anglo-Norman French variant of Old French estraie, past participle of estraier, based on Latin extra ‘out of bounds’ + vagari ‘wander’.
Idioms
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Idioms
go astray
  1. to become lost; to be stolen
    • Several packages went astray or were not delivered.
    • We locked up our valuables so they would not go astray.
  2. to go in the wrong direction; to have the wrong result
    • Unfortunately his header back to the goalie went astray.
    • The argument is so complex, a reader might easily go astray.
    Topics Difficulty and failurec2
lead somebody astray
  1. to make somebody go in the wrong direction or do things that are wrong
    • Jack's parents thought the other boys might lead him astray.
See astray in the Oxford Advanced American Dictionary
pity
noun
 
 
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B2
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