▪ I. stroll, n.
(strəʊl)
Also 7 stroule, strowle, 9 rare strole.
[Belongs to stroll v.; in sense 2 a new formation on the verb.]
1. = stroller. Obs. exc. U.S. (rare).
| 1623 Middleton & Rowley Sp. Gipsy ii. (1653) C 2 b, Wee'l entertaine no Mounty-bancking Stroule, No Piper, Fidler, Tumbler through small hoopes. Ibid. C 4 b, Y'are but a Country company of Strowles. 1641 Brome Jovial Crew v. (1652) N 1, I'll undertake that these Players..shall give your Guests much content, and move compassion in you towards the poor Strowles. 1900 J. L. Allen Increasing Purpose i. 21 They hired strolls to beat drums that we might not be heard for the din. |
2. A walk or ramble taken leisurely, a saunter.
| 1814 Jane Austen Mansf. Park vii, When the evening stroll was over. 1817 M. Birkbeck Notes Journ. Amer. (1818) 55 In my stroll among the lovely inclosures of this neighbourhood, I called to enquire my way at a small farmhouse. 1860 Sala Baddington Peerage I. xvii. 294 Come, take my arm, and we will have a stroll; it's just the evening for a stroll. |
Add: [2.] b. fig. Anything that is easily achieved, without undue effort; a ‘walk-over’; spec. in Baseball = base on balls s.v. base n.1 15 c (cf. walk n.1 1 e). colloq. (orig. U.S.).
| 1908 N.Y. Even. Jrnl. 12 Sept. 6/6 He is not only ‘beating’ his way to first, but he is also walloping the ball when he is not doing a ‘stroll’. 1942 Z. N. Hurston in Amer. Mercury July 96/2 Stroll, doing something well. 1942 Berrey & Van den Bark Amer. Thes. Slang §676/11 Base on balls,..stroll. 1960 Wentworth & Flexner Dict. Amer. Slang 525/2 Stroll,..2 Anything that is easy to do. c1940; Negro and jazz use. 1981 N.Y. Times 26 Sept. i. 23/1 Mr. Stein had outspent his opponent 2 to 1 and was supposed to win in a stroll. |
▪ II. stroll, v.
(strəʊl)
Also 7 stroyle, 7–8 stroul, strowl(e, 8 strole.
[Of uncertain origin.
Perh. this verb and the related stroll n. (which in our quots. appear early in the 17th c.) may be among the High German words introduced about that time by soldiers: cf. G. strolch vagabond, † strolchen, † strollen (18th c.) to wander as a vagrant.]
† 1. intr. To roam or wander from place to place without any settled habitation. Obs. (but cf. strolling ppl. a.).
| 1603 Dekker Wonderf. Yr. Wks. (Grosart) I. 100 He would..strowle (thats to say trauell) with some notorious wicked floundring company abroad. 1629 Massinger Picture ii. i. (1630) D 4 b, You had a foolish itch to be an actor, And may strowle where you please. 1684–5 Wood Life (O.H.S.) III. 123 He had been strouling beyond sea for some time to trail a pyke in the Low Countries. 1705 J. Philips Blenheim 369 Dismay'd, unfed, unhous'd, The Widow, and the Orphan Strole around The Desart wide. 1729 Swift Modest Proposal 3 These Mothers instead of being able to work for their honest livelyhood, are forced to employ all their time in Stroling, to beg Sustenance for their helpless Infants. 1756 J. Mair tr. Sallust (1793) 20 The Trojans,..who flying their country, under the conduct of æneas, strolled about, without any settled habitation. 1765 Pet. in M{supc}Farlane v. M{supc}Nab 4 Absent sometimes for weeks together.., strolling about the country selling brandy. |
2. a. To walk or ramble in a careless, haphazard, or leisurely fashion as inclination directs; often simply to take a walk.
| 1680 Otway C. Marius iii. iii, Whilst Coxcombs strowl abroad on Holydays, To take the Air. 1703 La Hontan's Voy. N. Amer. I. 35 Unhappily one of the Iroquese,..having stroul'd in the Night-time towards our Tents, over-heard what we said, and so reveal'd the Secret. 1709 Steele Tatler No. 3 ¶2 After the Play, we naturally stroll to this Coffee-house. 1734 Pope Hor. Sat. ii. ii. 13 Your wine lock'd up, your Butler stroll'd abroad. 1782 F. Burney Cecilia v. v, Cecilia..strolled to a window. 1827 Lytton Falkland ii. 99 They..then strolled along the sands towards the cliff. 1860 Sala Baddington Peerage I. xvii. 299 A policeman had strolled up during this parley, too late, however, to see the knife. 1865 Trollope Belton Est. xi. 121 He again strolled down to the bridge. 1876 Geo. Eliot Dan. Der. I. xiv. 268 Some of the gentlemen strolled a little and indulged in a cigar. |
| transf. 1760 Inform. Dk. Gordon v. Earls Murray & Fife 10 A vagrant stream strolling [t]hrough chingle, unconfined by any thing that can be called a bank. |
† b. Conjugated with be. Obs.
| 1722 De Foe Col. Jack (1840) 199, I was strolled away that day to see the country about. |
3. trans. To walk or pace along (a path) or about (a place). Chiefly U.S. in recent use.
| 1693 R. Gould Corrupt. Times by Money 28 For thee the dirty Drab does strowl the Streets. 1720 Swift Progr. Beauty 87 So rotting Celia stroles the Street, When sober Folks are all a-bed. 1771–2 Ess. fr. Batchelor (1773) I. 249 After strolling the Green, arm in arm with L―d M―lt―on. 1810 Splendid Follies III. 119 [He] had been strolling the solitary path of the elm-walk. 1956 H. Gold Man who was not with It (1965) vi. 50 Her laughter rang out as we strolled a business street of the suburb. 1974 New Yorker 3 June 76/3 (Advt.), Hike forest trails, stroll lovely gardens. 1977 Gay News 24 Mar. 23/1 They taxi to the Toilet and stroll the dock strip at 3 am. |
| quasi-trans. 1847 Mrs. Gore Castles in Air xviii. II. 121 He left me to stroll my way back to my solitary dinner. |
Add: [2.] c. In Baseball, to secure a base on balls (see base n.1 15 c). More generally, to proceed easily and without undue effort (to a desired result), esp. in sport or other competition. colloq.
| 1909 Baseball Mag. Oct. 30/1 He bats left-handed, choking his bat, and when a ball is close in, usually takes it on his hip and strolls to first. 1914 Harper's Weekly 18 Apr. 23/2 The upshot of it was that the first man strolled. 1976 J. Snow Cricket Rebel 86 Lancashire strolled to victory by six wickets. 1977 Washington Post 11 Jan. d5/6 King Pellinore, in from the West Coast, strolls to victory in the Man o' War. 1981 Guardian Weekly 27 Sept. 23/5 The multi-million pound stars of AS Roma strolled to their 2-0 victory over Ballymena United. 1984 Christian Science Monitor 15 May 28/3 He strolled out of the reading with the lead in Shakespeare's ‘Much Ado About Nothing’. 1988 Autosport 29 Sept. 74/4 Terry Heley's Ford Zephyr strolled easily away from the rest of the field in the early laps but slowed at mid-distance. |
d. In dismissive slang phr. stroll on!, used to express astonishment or incredulity at the preceding remark. Cf. get away s.v. get v. 61 b.
| 1959 W. Hall Long & Short & Tall i. 20 You've been humping this since we left camp? Well, flipping stroll on! That's all. Stroll on. Ibid. 29 Now I've seen everything. Rotten stroll on! 1985 P. Tinniswood Call it Canary xv. 64 ‘Excuse me, but do you by any chance suffer from hay fever?’ ‘No,’ said Brenda Woodhead. ‘Why?’ ‘Well, your eyes are all puffy and you've got a red nose.’—Bloody rotate, Carter. Bloody stroll on. 1990 Beezer 3 Mar. 15 Stroll on! You're bald—how did that happen? |