random walk

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noun

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

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

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Origin of random walk

First recorded in 1900–05

Words nearby random walk

random number generator, random numbers, random rubble, random sampling, random variable, random walk, random walk theory, R and R, Randwick, randy, ranee

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use random walk in a sentence

Reprinted by arrangement with The Penguin Press, a member of Penguin Group (USA) LLC, A Penguin Random House Company.
Thank Congress, Not LBJ for Great Society|Julian Zelizer, Scott Porch|January 4, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Creating PGCs from skin tissue, on the other hand, seems like a walk in the park compared to egg freezing.
Men Will Someday Have Kids Without Women|Samantha Allen|January 3, 2015|DAILY BEAST
“They know there are drug spots,” said Wanda Williams, who was out for a walk with her son.
Ground Zero of the NYPD Slowdown|Batya Ungar-Sargon|January 1, 2015|DAILY BEAST
“They just walk around, they ride in their patrol cars, and they just pass by,” he said.
Ground Zero of the NYPD Slowdown|Batya Ungar-Sargon|January 1, 2015|DAILY BEAST

Your general reaction runs along the lines of: “When will these geezers give it up and go for a mall walk or something?”
The World’s Toughest Political Quiz|Jeff Greenfield|December 31, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The two women had no intention of bathing; they had just strolled down to the beach for a walk and to be alone and near the water.
The Awakening and Selected Short Stories|Kate Chopin
She set off down Trafalgar Road in the mist and the rain, glad that she had been compelled to walk.
Hilda Lessways|Arnold Bennett
I could see only the stretch of green before me, and I felt as if I must walk on forever, without coming to the end of it.
The Awakening and Selected Short Stories|Kate Chopin
He used to walk through the park, and note with pleasure the care that his father bestowed on the gigantic property.
The Pit Town Coronet, Volume I (of 3)|Charles James Wills
The back of her head will be quite in line with her charming little bust, and I for one shall walk round and laugh in her face.
Ancestors|Gertrude Atherton

British Dictionary definitions for random walk

random walk

noun

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

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

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