meander
verb (used without object)
to proceed by or take a winding or indirect course.
meander
1 American
[mee-an-der]
/ miˈæn dər /
verb (used without object)
-
meanders,
present (3rd person singular)
-
meandered,
past participle, past
-
meandering
present participle
verb (used with object)
-
meanders,
present (3rd person singular)
-
meandered,
past participle, past
-
meandering
present participle
noun
-
meanders
plural
-
Usually meanders. turnings or windings; a winding path or course.
-
a circuitous movement or journey.
-
an intricate variety of fret or fretwork.
Meander
2
American
[mee-an-der]
/ miˈæn dər /
noun
meander
1
British
/ mɪˈændə /
verb
-
to follow a winding course
-
to wander without definite aim or direction
noun
-
(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
Meander
2
British
/ miːˈændə /
noun
meander
Scientific
/ mē-ăn′dər /
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
meandersimple
-
meanderssimple
-
have meanderedperfect
-
has meanderedperfect
-
am meanderingprogressive
-
are meanderingprogressive
-
is meanderingprogressive
-
have been meanderingperfect progressive
-
has been meanderingperfect progressive
Past
-
meanderedsimple
-
had meanderedperfect
-
was meanderingprogressive
-
were meanderingprogressive
-
had been meanderingperfect progressive
Future
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.
Vocabulary lists containing meander
100 Words Every Middle Schooler Should Know
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Grade 10, List 1
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Then in one-on-one calls with the team, she will ask each the same three questions “with room for the conversation to meander where it needs to go,” she said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026
"Especially species that rely on more natural gravels and variation within the channel - that's the benefit of the meander."
From BBC ● Jul. 1, 2026
This team isn’t built to meander through the opening weeks of the season.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 22, 2026
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
We meander through the streets of town, and I try to guess where the next addresses will be.
From "I Am the Messenger" by Markus Zusak
That reminds me of Jane Alison's "Meander, Spiral, Explode," where she shows how the traditional pyramid structure plot is not the only way to tell a story.
From Salon ● Apr. 13, 2023
LB Montrel Meander was carted off in the third quarter with an ankle injury.
From Fox News ● Aug. 22, 2021
Correction: An earlier version of this story stated that in 2014, Common Cause organized the Gerrymander Meander relay race along the 3rd District’s outline.
From Washington Post ● Feb. 8, 2019
The renderings on the brochure show not the high-ceilinged galleries that Zumthor’s firm calls “Chapels” but the more conventional-looking “Cabinet” galleries, along with the Meander galleries along the glass-lined perimeter of the new building.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 4, 2016
The beat of hoofs around the sharp turn in the road where it led out into the valley in which Meander lay, fell sharp and sudden on their ears.
From Claim Number One by George W. (George Washington) Ogden
Basically, as the market meanders just below record highs, the internal indicators remain very negative but VIX indicators remain positive.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 18, 2026
He meanders somewhat, especially toward the book’s end, where each chapter seems to cover a point the author didn’t want to leave out but didn’t know how to put in seamlessly.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 4, 2026
Highway 33, at a modest 3.5% grade, meanders over and along creeks that are invisible from the road but marked by riparian vegetation.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026
George, a top agent at a London intelligence agency, meanders through the chimeric bowels of a posh nightclub, hunting for a contact who’s got some bad news waiting.
From Salon ● Mar. 14, 2025
Either from the agony of waiting as Tats meanders through her story, the agony of finding out that it had something to do with Farooq, or the agony of carrying around so much potential happiness.
From "Saints and Misfits" by S.K. Ali
He was a keen student of dialect; doing movies in the South, he meandered down backroads, learning just the right way to frame a question in rural Mississippi or deliver a compliment in west Texas.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 16, 2026
John and Theresa Anderson meandered through the sprawling Ralph Lauren clothing store on Rodeo Drive, shopping for holiday gifts.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 22, 2025
Carolers meandered through town, drawing no more than a dozen onlookers as they sang “Angels We Have Heard on High” and asked shop owners whether holiday crowds might return.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 21, 2025
The England duo smartly meandered along, taking 106 runs in the session compared to the rampant flow of runs earlier.
From BBC ● Jul. 4, 2025
Here and there a stray person meandered around the library or up a corridor...
From "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" by J.K. Rowling
Then there is the foreground, filled with plush growth, a meandering rivulet and—in the left-hand corner, in contrast to the natural wonders above—a man-made carved Meso-American stone pillar.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 31, 2026
Rangers were so flat in the Czech Republic, meandering about like confused men, showing weakness in the tackle and not a scintilla of wit.
From BBC ● Aug. 27, 2026
“A resort-style pool, tranquil lily ponds, meandering pathways, shaded terraces, and a full-size tennis court create moments of both recreation and quiet reflection, where the sounds of nature replace the pace of everyday life.”
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 14, 2026
After a campaign over hundreds of years saw rivers tamed for commercial use, he urged a shift back "toward natural rivers featuring meandering branches and floodplains that retain water across the landscape".
From Barron's ● Aug. 13, 2026
He'd been slowly growing restless in Springfield, frustrated by the meandering pace of state government, convinced he could accomplish more and better in Washington.
From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
