/ə.stɹeɪ/ · noun
(law) An animal that has escaped from its owner; a wandering animal whose owner is unknown. An animal cannot be an estray when on the range where it was raised, and permitted by its owner to run. A lost animal whose owner is known to the party at hand is not an estray..
[...] All the day / Had been a dreary one at best, and dim / Was settling to its close, yet shot one grim / Red leer to see the plain catch its estray.
With other Maids to fiſh upon the Shoar; Estrays apart, and leaves her Company
Use estray when its meaning, tone and grammar fit the full sentence. A synonym is not always a direct replacement.
Estray means (law) An animal that has escaped from its owner; a wandering animal whose owner is unknown. An animal cannot be an estray when on the range where it was raised, and permitted by its owner to run. A lost animal whose owner is known to the party at hand is not an estray..
The closest synonym depends on the sentence and intended sense.
The opposite depends on the specific sense.
[...] All the day / Had been a dreary one at best, and dim / Was settling to its close, yet shot one grim / Red leer to see the plain catch its estray.
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