ramble
Americanverb (used without object)
-
to wander around in a leisurely, aimless manner.
They rambled through the shops until closing time.
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to take a course with many turns or windings, as a stream or path.
-
to grow in a random, unsystematic fashion.
The vine rambled over the walls and tree trunks.
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to talk or write in a discursive, aimless way (usually followed byon ).
The speaker rambled on with anecdote after anecdote.
verb (used with object)
noun
verb
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to stroll about freely, as for relaxation, with no particular direction
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(of paths, streams, etc) to follow a winding course; meander
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(of plants) to grow in a random fashion
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(of speech, writing, etc) to lack organization
noun
Synonym Usage
See roam.
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
ramblesimple
-
ramblessimple
-
have rambledperfect
-
has rambledperfect
-
am ramblingprogressive
-
are ramblingprogressive
-
is ramblingprogressive
-
have been ramblingperfect progressive
-
has been ramblingperfect progressive
Past
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rambledsimple
-
had rambledperfect
-
was ramblingprogressive
-
were ramblingprogressive
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had been ramblingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of ramble
First recorded in 1610–20; origin uncertain
Explanation
You ramble when your talking or your walking goes on and on and on. And on. You’re in no hurry to make a point or get to your destination — if there is one at all. The word ramble comes from similar roots as roam. They both mean wander, but they’re often used a little differently. You might roam around on vacation to relax or find adventure. If you’re a shark, you roam the deep sea for food. On the other hand, if the person on the plane next to you chatters nervously and can’t stop, you wish they wouldn’t ramble on like that.
Vocabulary lists containing ramble
25 Ways of Walking
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Look Both Ways
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Wish
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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:
In plain language, that means he’s probably going to ramble late into the night about a bunch of baseless conspiracy theories.
From Slate ● Jul. 16, 2026
His fusion of speaking and singing allows him to ramble as he embraces absurdity, non sequiturs and free association with a stand-up comic’s sense of timing.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 2, 2026
Speaking to The Times of London, he said that radio pop in 2026 is one long ramble.
From Salon ● Mar. 29, 2026
But, no objective observer could describe such a life as a "ramble".
From BBC ● Sep. 22, 2024
Art3mis: As you may recall, I tend to ramble in real time.
From "Ready Player One: A Novel" by Ernest Cline
Among their findings: Weekend automobile rambles were replacing church attendance.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 2, 2026
He rambles on: “We are even adding Battleships, which are 100 times more powerful than the ones that roamed the Seas during World War II.”
From Slate ● Feb. 6, 2026
And the Rams had to deal with two of those soul-crushing rambles.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 25, 2024
"I like the humour of his mind. I like the fact that he that he rambles on but, more than that, he's given me the opportunity to learn so much."
From BBC ● Sep. 26, 2023
“This new voice of yours rambles on like thunder in the rainy season.”
From "The Ugly One" by Leanne Statland Ellis
Once he got the pass from Harden by sliding away from a defender, Zubac faked a pass one way and rambled in for a dunk and a five-point lead again with 2:21 left.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 29, 2024
Davis was really good at getting Trump to shut up when he rambled.
From Salon ● Sep. 12, 2024
During the 10-minute phone interview, he ranted and rambled and seemed to be accidentally pressing various buttons on his phone, punctuating the broadcast with random beeping—that is, until he was ultimately cut off.
From Slate ● Aug. 27, 2024
Pragyaan rambled around the lunar surface for 10 days, while Prof Vadawale and his colleagues worked around the clock instructing it to collect data at 70 degree south latitude.
From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2024
Before Diego could tell me to leave, I rambled on.
From "We Are the Ants" by Shaun David Hutchinson
Herb Alpert walks up a long driveway at his rambling Malibu estate, wincing slightly after having woken up around 3 a.m. with a cramp in his left calf.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 2, 2026
The book also compared the UK to a "rambling stately home" in which the power was only on in some rooms.
From BBC ● Jun. 25, 2026
“Every time we talked about the prospect of peace, the stock market shot up like a rocket ship,” he said during a long and at times rambling address.
From Barron's ● Jun. 17, 2026
After Debbie divorced, she sent a rambling letter to Nancy, saying how guilty she felt.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 23, 2026
Instead, she slid her fingers back and forth across the rough grain of the table’s underside, letting her skin drag over the unfinished wood, working out a kind of counterpoint to Henry’s rambling.
From "Out of Darkness" by Ashley Hope Pérez
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.
