stroll

Borrowed from German strollen, a variant of Alemannic German strolchen, from Strolch (“vagabond; rascal”).

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /stɹəʊl/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /stɹoʊl/

• Audio (US)

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• Rhymes: -əʊl

stroll (plural strolls)

1. A wandering on foot; an idle and leisurely walk; a ramble.

stroll (third-person singular simple present strolls, present participle strolling, simple past and past participle strolled)

1. To wander on foot; to ramble idly or leisurely; to rove.
   • Jonathan Swift (1667–1745)

     These mothers stroll to beg sustenance for their helpless infants.

   • 1918, W. B. Maxwell, chapter 7, in The Mirror and the Lamp:

     The turmoil went on—no rest, no peace. […] It was nearly eleven o'clock now, and he strolled out again. In the little fair created by the costers' barrows the evening only seemed beginning; and the naphtha flares made one's eyes ache, the men's voices grated harshly, and the girls' faces saddened one.

2. To go somewhere with ease.
   • 1907, Robert William Chambers, chapter I, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, OCLC 24962326:

     His sister, Mrs. Gerard, stood there in carriage gown and sables, radiant with surprise. ¶ “Phil !  You !  Exactly like you, Philip, to come strolling in from the antipodes—dear fellow !” recovering from the fraternal embrace and holding both lapels of his coat in her gloved hands.

• rove
• ramble

• range, roam, rove, stray

• stroller

• trolls