random walk

American  

noun

1. Statistics. the path taken by a point or quantity that moves in steps, where the direction of each step is determined randomly.

2. Physics. the tendency of particles in random motion to achieve a net displacement or to drift in a particular direction.

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random walk British  

noun

1. a mathematical model used to describe physical processes, such as diffusion, in which a particle moves in straight-line steps of constant length but random direction

2. statistics a route consisting of successive and connected steps in which each step is chosen by a random mechanism uninfluenced by any previous step

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Etymology

Origin of random walk

First recorded in 1900–05

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

random walk

Over time, they produce an overall shift in one direction through a mathematical process known as a random walk.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 21, 2026

Over-interpreting randomness is an occupational hazard when monitoring the random walk of financial markets, while resisting any temptation provides an opportunity for the cognitively savvy investor.

From BBC ● Dec. 31, 2021

Worse still, perhaps the very idea of “species maturity” is a misguided analogy, and all we will ever have is history’s rather random walk.

From Scientific American ● Mar. 29, 2020

SK: I’m a big believer in the random walk.

From New York Times ● Jun. 27, 2018

Continuing my random walk, I next paused in a low part of the woods, where the larger trees began to give place to a thick second growth that covered an old Bark-peeling.

From A Book of Natural History Young Folks' Library Volume XIV. by Jordan, David Starr