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.
Seeing the new meander on the farmland is a big moment, he said, adding "it's nice to give something back".
From BBC ● Jul. 1, 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
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
“Go on home,” she told her mare, Cinders, who was so gentle and smart that Miss Maggie could ride bareback and then turn her loose to meander home.
From "Beyond the Bright Sea" by Lauren Wolk
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
Also, Stefanski said cornerback Greedy Williams is day to day with a groin injury and that linebacker Montrel Meander will need surgery after rupturing an Achilles tendon in Sunday’s 17-13 win.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 23, 2021
LB Montrel Meander was carted off in the third quarter with an ankle injury.
From Fox News ● Aug. 22, 2021
Meander to the counter and order one of its famed baked stroopwafels.
From Washington Post ● Sep. 20, 2018
That cash was now safe in the bank at Meander.
From Claim Number One by Ogden, George W. (George Washington)
“Land” regains traction when it returns to Ireland and to its mythic theme, which meanders from the Neolithic era to the 20th century, with detours to more fantastical regions.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 29, 2026
“We grab a table outside in the back and our daughter meanders without us feeling annoying.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 6, 2026
But it also meanders quite a lot, and is somewhere between a self-help book and a stream of anecdotes.
From BBC ● Jan. 30, 2025
The stages of grief are all endlessly explored, and it loses us as it meanders through some of the low parts of "The Tortured Poets Department."
From Salon ● Apr. 19, 2024
But those walks were disciplined; they were not meanders of discovery like Vincent’s on the heath.
From "Vincent and Theo: The Van Gogh Brothers" by Deborah Heiligman
Liu meandered through the park using a few different trails, including the Sunrise Lakes route, to reach her ultimate destination: Half Dome on her birthday.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2026
Day two started with single track and jeep trails that meandered through rolling, mountainous terrain.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 1, 2026
There was a festival air on this public holiday as families marched and meandered in a warm winter's sun.
From BBC ● Feb. 11, 2026
Even though there were moments when this meandered like a pre-season friendly, there were still positives for England to take.
From BBC ● May 24, 2025
Once past the flower fields the lane narrowed to a path that meandered through the thickets edging the river.
From "The Golden Goblet" by Eloise Jarvis McGraw
It also shows that evolution rarely follows a straight path, instead meandering through the ever-changing conditions on our planet.
From Science Daily ● May 21, 2026
There's a lot of flakiness in their make-up, possibly too many players spending too much time meandering through games.
From BBC ● Apr. 27, 2026
The Red Sox, meanwhile, are meandering at 11-17 entering Monday night’s game versus Toronto, currently stuck at the bottom of the menu in the American League.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 27, 2026
Since then, the 79-year-old Republican has rarely missed an opportunity to discuss the project, frequently meandering in mid-speech on other topics to riff about the architectural details of the proposed facility.
From Barron's ● Mar. 31, 2026
Instead, the Greeks just saw the terms as simply getting smaller and smaller, meandering outside the realm of numbers.
From "Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea" by Charles Seife
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.
