as in snail
someone who moves slowly or more slowly than others
by three o'clock, only a few stragglers were still making their painful way to the marathon's finish
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Recent Examples of straggler
Then came five Democratic stragglers.
—
Los Angeles Times, 2 Mar. 2026
Jeremy told a few stragglers to catch up.
—Yiyun Li, New Yorker, 1 Mar. 2026
Getting rid of the Super Bowl stragglers is awkward.
—Paul Sullivan, Chicago Tribune, 8 Feb. 2026
And the one straggler in that group is Draymond Green.
—Zach Harper, New York Times, 19 Jan. 2026
Get those ballots filled out, stragglers.
—Pete Hammond, Deadline, 16 Jan. 2026
The last few stragglers are set to report quarterly results this week.
—Zev Fima, CNBC, 7 Dec. 2025
Its companions are four Russian mobsters — stragglers from the previous season — laying on their stomachs with their necks outstretched over the rail.
—Demetrius Patterson, HollywoodReporter, 27 Oct. 2025
The last Orionid stragglers usually appear sometime in early to mid-November.
—Joe Rao, Space.com, 17 Oct. 2025
Los Angeles Times, 2 Mar. 2026
Jeremy told a few stragglers to catch up.
—Yiyun Li, New Yorker, 1 Mar. 2026
Getting rid of the Super Bowl stragglers is awkward.
—Paul Sullivan, Chicago Tribune, 8 Feb. 2026
And the one straggler in that group is Draymond Green.
—Zach Harper, New York Times, 19 Jan. 2026
Get those ballots filled out, stragglers.
—Pete Hammond, Deadline, 16 Jan. 2026
The last few stragglers are set to report quarterly results this week.
—Zev Fima, CNBC, 7 Dec. 2025
Its companions are four Russian mobsters — stragglers from the previous season — laying on their stomachs with their necks outstretched over the rail.
—Demetrius Patterson, HollywoodReporter, 27 Oct. 2025
The last Orionid stragglers usually appear sometime in early to mid-November.
—Joe Rao, Space.com, 17 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for straggler
snail
Noun
-
Chitons belong to the class Polyplacophora, a group of marine mollusks — distant relatives of snails, clams, and octopuses — distinguished by a series of overlapping shell plates running down their backs.—
Hanna Wickes,
Kansas City Star,
3 Mar. 2026
-
Chitons are distant relatives of snails, clams, and octopuses, distinguished by overlapping shell plates running down their backs.—
Hanna Wickes,
Miami Herald,
3 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Straggler.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/straggler. Accessed 10 Mar. 2026.
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