foray

American  

[fawr-ey, for-ey] / ˈfɔr eɪ, ˈfɒr eɪ /

noun

1. a quick raid, usually for the purpose of taking plunder.

   Vikings made a foray on the port.

   Synonyms:

   sortie, incursion, invasion, assault, attack

2. a quick, sudden attack.

   The defenders made a foray outside the walls.

3. an initial venture.

   a successful foray into politics.

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verb (used without object)

1. to make a raid; pillage; maraud.

2. to invade or make one's way, as for profit or adventure.

   foreign industries foraying into U.S. markets.

verb (used with object)

1. to ravage in search of plunder; pillage.

foray British  

/ ˈfɒreɪ /

noun

1. a short raid or incursion

2. a first attempt or new undertaking

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verb

1. to raid or ravage (a town, district, etc)

Other Word Forms

• forayer noun

Etymology

Origin of foray

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English forraien, apparently by back formation from forrayour, forreour, forrier, from Old French forrier, fourrier, equivalent to fo(u)rr(er), derivative of fuerre “provender” ( see forage) + -ier -ier ²

Explanation

Foray means brief excursion. If you're in the army, that's a literal excursion into enemy territory. For the rest of us, it means trying something out. "My foray into rugby ended with my spending a week in the hospital." This word derives from the Latin fuerre 'straw', which led into Old French as fourager 'forage,' or search for food. Think of soldiers stealing food from the enemy as maybe how this word first came to be used. Even if that is historically inaccurate, your foray into amateur word-sleuthing will help you remember this word.

Example Sentences

Having made an initial foray into Sharks' territory, Segun was fed by Olly Hartley before stepping back inside to leave would-be tacklers Gus Warr and Rob du Preez clutching at thin air.

From BBC • Apr. 19, 2026

This once-sleepy plot of land along the Tennessee and Mississippi border has become the front line of Musk’s foray into the AI wars as he tries to play catch-up to rivals including OpenAI and Anthropic.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 14, 2026

All the while, OpenAI’s coding product Codex and this new foray into ads have remained key pillars of the company’s business.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 10, 2026

The landscape has been transformed since the failure of Google Glass, the search company’s early foray into smart glasses that was axed in 2015.

From Barron's • Mar. 31, 2026

They did not use the sonic, stunners but the foray gun, the ancient weapon that fires a set of metal fragments in a burst.

From "The Left Hand of Darkness" by Ursula K. Le Guin

Related Words

• inroad
• invasion
• raid