Usually meanders. turnings or windings; a winding path or course.
a circuitous movement or journey.
an intricate variety of fret or fretwork.
to follow a winding course
to wander without definite aim or direction
(often plural) a curve or bend, as in a river
(often plural) a winding course or movement
an ornamental pattern, esp as used in ancient Greek architecture
1570–80; < Latin maeander < Greek maíandros a winding, special use of Maíandros, the Menderes River, noted for its winding course
To meander means to wander aimlessly on a winding roundabout course. If you want some time to yourself after school, you might meander home, taking the time to window shop and look around. Meander comes from a river in modern-day Turkey, the Maiandros, which winds and wanders on its course. Today, a stream or a path meanders, as does a person who walks somewhere in a roundabout fashion. If your speech meanders, you don't keep to the point. It's hard to understand what your teacher is trying to impart if he keeps meandering off with anecdotes and digressions. Pronounce meander with three syllables not two — me-AN-der.
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Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
This team isn’t built to meander through the opening weeks of the season.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 22, 2026
This month’s Rafale deal is symptomatic of the historic Indian tendency to meander on defense modernization, Sameer Lalwani, an expert on the Indian military at the German Marshall Fund, says in a phone interview.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 25, 2026
Yet it was during this meander that his writing made a steep drop into seeing, feeling, connecting, plunging toward transcendence.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 26, 2025
Reaching anything needing attention can take days or even weeks because the lines that carry water to customers meander through valleys, over ridgelines, and along roadways, many of which remain impassable.
From Salon • Nov. 25, 2024
As the cool breeze of night set in, neighboring families pulled up plastic lawn chairs to conduct “chair committee” and casually meander over the day’s events without rancor or argument or constant one- upmanship.
From "Friday Night Lights: A Town, A Team, And A Dream" by H.G. Bissinger
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
