meander

¹ American  

[mee-an-der] / miˈæn dər /

verb (used without object)

1. to proceed by or take a winding or indirect course.

   The stream meandered through the valley.

   Synonyms:

   coil, snake, twist, wind, wander

2. to wander aimlessly; ramble.

   The talk meandered on.

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verb (used with object)

1. Surveying. to define the margin of (a body of water) with a meander line.

noun

1. Usually meanders. turnings or windings; a winding path or course.

2. a circuitous movement or journey.

3. an intricate variety of fret or fretwork.

Meander ² American  

[mee-an-der] / miˈæn dər /

noun

1. ancient name of the Menderes.

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meander ¹ British  

/ mɪˈændə /

verb

1. to follow a winding course

2. to wander without definite aim or direction

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noun

1. (often plural) a curve or bend, as in a river

2. (often plural) a winding course or movement

3. an ornamental pattern, esp as used in ancient Greek architecture

Meander ² British  

/ miːˈændə /

noun

1. a variant spelling of Maeander

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meander Scientific  

/ mē-ăn′dər /

1. A sinuous curve, bend, or loop along the course of a stream or river.

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Other Word Forms

• meanderer noun
• meandering adjective
• meanderingly adverb
• meandrous adjective

Etymology

Origin of meander

1570–80; < Latin maeander < Greek maíandros a winding, special use of Maíandros, the Menderes River, noted for its winding course

Explanation

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.

Example Sentences

From a certain point of view, it makes sense to concentrate the art into discrete thematic galleries, and to treat the space between them as flowing interstitial fluid through which the visitor can meander happily.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 29, 2025

Grief, too, steers us, a cleansing ritual, as I recall each time my wife and I meander beneath Green-Wood’s leafy canopy, parakeets swooping and chattering overhead, or sit quietly in its hushed chapel.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 30, 2025

Guiraudie avoids urgency at all costs, letting his characters meander through the woods and have entire conversations that have nothing to do with Jérémie’s sexuality at all.

From Salon • Apr. 3, 2025

Kids stay up late, ice cream becomes a food group and people are out and about, undergirded by an unspoken permission to meander through the days.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 14, 2024

Always elegantly dressed, he would meander across the room, stopping to chat with men working at different stations.

From "The Boy on the Wooden Box" by Leon Leyson

Related Words

• drift
• ramble
• roam
• snake
• stray
• stroll
• traipse