rambling
[ram-bling]
- aimlessly wandering.
- taking an irregular course; straggling: a rambling brook.
- spread out irregularly in various directions: a rambling mansion.
- straying from one subject to another; desultory: a rambling novel.
Show More
Origin of rambling
Synonyms
See more synonyms for rambling on Thesaurus.com4. discursive.
ramble
[ram-buh l]
- to wander around in a leisurely, aimless manner: They rambled through the shops until closing time.
- 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.
- to talk or write in a discursive, aimless way (usually followed by on): The speaker rambled on with anecdote after anecdote.
Show More
- to walk aimlessly or idly over or through: They spent the spring afternoon rambling woodland paths.
Show More
- a walk without a definite route, taken merely for pleasure.
Show More
Origin of ramble
First recorded in 1610–20; origin uncertain
Synonyms
See more synonyms for ramble on Thesaurus.com1. stroll, saunter, amble, stray, straggle. See roam.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for rambling
Contemporary Examples
In rambling posts, he called himself a loser, and wrote that he must be either bipolar or a psychopath.
The rocker posted a rambling video on his Facebook page claiming he's broke and penniless.
Creed Singer Scott Stapp’s Fall From Grace: From 40 Million Albums Sold to Living in a Holiday InnMarlow Stern
November 27, 2014
After about one minute of rambling, a woman runs up on stage and directs someone to turn his microphone off.
If I could sum it up in a few choice words, I would, but instead I hem and haw, before stumbling through some rambling rejoinder.
Yet the show has gotten a deal of negative criticism for being inchoate, unselective, too rambling, and uneven.
A New Exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum Puts a Modern Face on Chinese ArtMelik Kaylan
January 5, 2014
Historical Examples
We had to keep watch all last night over the horses to keep them from rambling.
Explorations in AustraliaJohn Forrest
But this is rambling far from the momentous twenty-first of June, my day of triumph.
The Fortune HunterLouis Joseph Vance
A girl, a well born girl, rambling the woods all night with her fiancé!
The Innocent AdventuressMary Hastings Bradley
It was a rambling old place that seemed to have been cut out of a barn.
His MasterpieceEmile Zola
He was lying hard on the place of his pain and rambling in delirium.
The ManxmanHall Caine
rambling
- straggling or sprawling haphazardly; unplanneda rambling old house
- (of speech or writing) lacking a coherent plan; diffuse and disconnected
- (of a plant, esp a rose) profusely climbing and straggling
- nomadic; wandering
Show More
ramble
- to stroll about freely, as for relaxation, with no particular direction
- (of paths, streams, etc) to follow a winding course; meander
- (of plants) to grow in a random fashion
- (of speech, writing, etc) to lack organization
Show More
- a leisurely stroll, esp in the countryside
Show More
Word Origin
C17: probably related to Middle Dutch rammelen to roam (of animals); see ram
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for rambling
adj.
1623, present participle adjective from ramble (v.).
Show More
ramble
v.
mid-15c., perhaps frequentative of romen "to walk, go" (see roam), perhaps via romblen (late 14c.) "to ramble." The vowel change perhaps by influence of Middle Dutch rammelen, a derivative of rammen "copulate," "used of the night wanderings of the amorous cat" [Weekley]. Meaning "to talk or write incoherently" is from 1630s. Related: Rambled; rambling.
Show More
ramble
n.
"a roving or wandering," 1650s, from ramble (v.).
Show More
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper