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.
"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
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
This team isn’t built to meander through the opening weeks of the season.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 22, 2026
It’s like a river that once flowed relatively straight has begun to meander more wildly.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 15, 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
Correction: An earlier version of this story stated that in 2014, Common Cause organized the Gerrymander Meander relay race along the 3rd District’s outline.
From Washington Post ● Feb. 8, 2019
They gave me the worst horse in the stable at Meander, and he’ll never be able to carry me back there without a long rest.
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
By late afternoon, the final miles carry me east toward the Colorado River, where it meanders past willow and cottonwood.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 7, 2026
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
It meanders through Flaming Geyser State Park, Auburn, Kent and then on to Tukwila, where it becomes the Duwamish, Seattle’s only river.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 11, 2024
He meanders toward the back of the store, which contains an open door that I believe may in some way be related to "Tokens."
From "Will Grayson, Will Grayson" by John Green and David Levithan
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
Hawking could intuit the mathematics that describes the fabric of spacetime, but in that earlier book he sometimes forgot that the rest of us could not do the same, and meandered into distracting mathematical discussions.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 19, 2026
John and Theresa Anderson meandered through the sprawling Ralph Lauren clothing store on Rodeo Drive, shopping for holiday gifts.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 22, 2025
Much of the third Test had meandered and drifted, only for a super Sunday to set up a potentially manic Monday.
From BBC ● Jul. 13, 2025
On hot days we swam in Elsinore's river where it meandered through a nearby wood, and we captured frogs and salamanders on its grassy banks.
From "Ophelia" by Lisa Klein
"Kank lived in a landscape of meandering rivers and streams with seasonal ponds, inhabited by aquatic plants such as water lilies and animals including fish, insects, and various molluscs," says Dr. Motta.
From Science Daily ● May 29, 2026
Demographics for Unusual Tuesday range from late teens to septuagenarians, mingling and meandering as they await the start of the show.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 18, 2026
And that’s important because, the author tells us, for our naturally “phantasmagoric” minds, the meandering state feeds our imaginations and stokes creativity.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 15, 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
Of course, Aimee had no idea where to stand as the other kids started to separate themselves into two teams, meandering their way to one end of the grassy area or the other.
From "Nine, Ten: A September 11 Story" by Nora Raleigh Baskin
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.
