foray
UK /ˈfɒɹ.eɪ/ · US /ˈfɔɹ.eɪ/ noun, verb
Forms forays foraying forayed forrey
- noun A sudden or irregular incursion in border warfare; hence, any irregular incursion for war or spoils; a raid.
- noun A brief excursion or attempt, especially outside one's accustomed sphere.
- verb To participate in a foray.
- verb To do or attempt something outside one's typical area of expertise.
- verb (transitive, archaic) To scour an area for goods as part of a foray.
Synonyms
raid maraud plunder despoil loot reave strip rifle ransack pillage
Etymology
From Middle English forrayen (“to pillage”), a back-formation of forrayour, forreour, forrier (“raider, pillager”), from Old French forrier, fourrier, a derivative of fuerre (“provender, fodder, straw”), from Frankish *fōdar (“fodder, sheath”), from Proto-Germanic *fōdrą (“fodder, feed, sheath”), from Proto-Indo-European *patrom (“fodder”), *pat- (“to feed”), *pāy- (“to guard, graze, feed”).
Cognate with Old High German fuotar (German Futter (“fodder, feed”)), Old English fōdor, fōþer (“food, fodder, covering, case, basket”), Dutch voeder (“forage, food, feed”), Danish foder (“fodder, feed”), Icelandic fóður (“fodder, sheath”). More at fodder, food, forage.
Webster’s 1913
- noun A sudden or irregular incursion in border warfare; hence, any irregular incursion for war or spoils; a raid. Spenser.
- verb To pillage; to ravage.
Etymology [Another form of forahe. Cf. Forray.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “foray”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details