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DictionaryforayBrief raid
noun / verb

foray

FOR-ay/ˈfɔːreɪ/

A brief venture into territory outside one's usual control.

The beginner's first pottery lesson is a foray into unfamiliar creative territory.

A novice adult tries pottery for the first time, tentative hands shaping a small bowl under a welcoming instructor.
Etymology
forayMiddle Englishraider, forager

Foray may derive from a word for a raider or forager. Its earlier meaning, a predatory incursion, supplies the image for a brief venture into unfamiliar activity.

In context

Liene's Library19:59
these books do not have that which is honestly kind of what makes them really approachable and easy to read like if this is your first foray into adult fantasy
the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad SWORD OF TRUTH series

More examples

  • Her first foray into baking ends with a delicious cake.
  • The novelist occasionally forays into poetry.
  • Repeated forays across the border leave the villages vulnerable.

Forms

foray · forays · forayed · foraying

Similar words

raid
Emphasizes a sudden attack rather than an exploratory venture.
venture
Suggests uncertainty or risk without necessarily being brief.
incursion
Emphasizes entry into another's territory, usually with hostile intent.