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• meander
  meander

  verb (used without object)

  to proceed by or take a winding or indirect course.
• Meander
  Meander

  noun

  ancient name of the Menderes.

meander

¹ American  

[mee-an-der] / miˈæn dər /

verb (used without object)

• meanders,
  present (3rd person singular)
• meandered,
  past participle,  past
• meandering
  present participle

1. to proceed by or take a winding or indirect course.

   The stream meandered through the valley.

   Synonyms:

   coil, snake, twist, wind, wander

2. to wander aimlessly; ramble.

   The talk meandered on.

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verb (used with object)

• meanders,
  present (3rd person singular)
• meandered,
  past participle,  past
• meandering
  present participle

1. Surveying. to define the margin of (a body of water) with a meander line.

noun

• meanders
  plural

1. Usually meanders. turnings or windings; a winding path or course.

2. a circuitous movement or journey.

3. an intricate variety of fret or fretwork.

Meander ² American  

[mee-an-der] / miˈæn dər /

noun

1. ancient name of the Menderes.

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meander ¹ British  

/ mɪˈændə /

verb

1. to follow a winding course

2. to wander without definite aim or direction

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noun

1. (often plural) a curve or bend, as in a river

2. (often plural) a winding course or movement

3. an ornamental pattern, esp as used in ancient Greek architecture

Meander ² British  

/ miːˈændə /

noun

1. a variant spelling of Maeander

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meander Scientific  

/ mē-ăn′dər /

1. A sinuous curve, bend, or loop along the course of a stream or river.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• meanderer
  noun
• meandering
  adjective
• meandrous
  adjective
• meanderingly
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• meanders
  plural

Participles

• meandering
  present
• meandered
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• meander
  simple
• meanders
  simple
• have meandered
  perfect
• has meandered
  perfect
• am meandering
  progressive
• are meandering
  progressive
• is meandering
  progressive
• have been meandering
  perfect progressive
• has been meandering
  perfect progressive

Past

• meandered
  simple
• had meandered
  perfect
• was meandering
  progressive
• were meandering
  progressive
• had been meandering
  perfect progressive

Future

• will meander
  simple
• will have meandered
  perfect
• will be meandering
  progressive
• will have been meandering
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of meander

1570–80; < Latin maeander < Greek maíandros a winding, special use of Maíandros, the Menderes River, noted for its winding course

Explanation

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.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

meander Meander meanders meandered meandering

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

There are less rules outside, fewer boundaries: coffee dates prolong, walks meander, thoughts digress.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 13, 2026

This month’s Rafale deal is symptomatic of the historic Indian tendency to meander on defense modernization, Sameer Lalwani, an expert on the Indian military at the German Marshall Fund, says in a phone interview.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 25, 2026

Old Jesse did indeed meander back home soon afterward, but Mr. Jackson still always gave me an odd look whenever he saw me go by on my bike.

From "October Sky" by Homer Hickam

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

Although he had remained in Meander two days after that event, nobody had approached him in regard to the land which so many had seemed anxious to get before it came into 211 his ownership.

From Claim Number One by George W. (George Washington) Ogden

They were among the 88 temples of the Henro pilgrimage route that traces back 1,200 years and meanders roughly 750 miles around Japan’s fourth-largest island.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 6, 2026

“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

George, a top agent at a London intelligence agency, meanders through the chimeric bowels of a posh nightclub, hunting for a contact who’s got some bad news waiting.

From Salon ● Mar. 14, 2025

But it also meanders quite a lot, and is somewhere between a self-help book and a stream of anecdotes.

From BBC ● Jan. 30, 2025

But those walks were disciplined; they were not meanders of discovery like Vincent’s on the heath.

From "Vincent and Theo: The Van Gogh Brothers" by Deborah Heiligman

The jet stream has meandered well to the north of the UK, allowing high pressure to build and warm air to drift in from south.

From BBC ● Jul. 16, 2026

There was a festival air on this public holiday as families marched and meandered in a warm winter's sun.

From BBC ● Feb. 11, 2026

Carolers meandered through town, drawing no more than a dozen onlookers as they sang “Angels We Have Heard on High” and asked shop owners whether holiday crowds might return.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 21, 2025

The parade began at City Hall, meandered to the Walt Disney Concert Hall and ended at Fifth and Flower streets, wheeling through downtown on open-top double-decker buses with an estimated 250,000 fans lining the streets.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 18, 2024

Zooey put out a hand and stroked Bloomberg’s arched back, once, twice, then quit, and got up from the coffee table and meandered across the room to the piano.

From "Franny and Zooey" by J. D. Salinger

The erratic ant was named for its "high-energy foraging behaviour which sees it scamper with meandering and unpredictable movements", she added.

From BBC ● Sep. 1, 2026

“A resort-style pool, tranquil lily ponds, meandering pathways, shaded terraces, and a full-size tennis court create moments of both recreation and quiet reflection, where the sounds of nature replace the pace of everyday life.”

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 14, 2026

After a campaign over hundreds of years saw rivers tamed for commercial use, he urged a shift back "toward natural rivers featuring meandering branches and floodplains that retain water across the landscape".

From Barron's ● Aug. 13, 2026

Her one-year appointment as a visiting professor at a college in rural Greensbury, Vt., sets “Country People” in pleasantly meandering motion.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026

Instead, the Greeks just saw the terms as simply getting smaller and smaller, meandering outside the realm of numbers.

From "Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea" by Charles Seife

Related Words

• drift
• ramble
• roam
• snake
• stray
• stroll
• traipse