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Synonyms

meander

1 American  
[mee-an-der] / miˈæn dər /

verb (used without object)

  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.

verb (used with object)

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

noun

  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.

meander 1 British  
/ mɪˈændə /

verb

  1. to follow a winding course

  2. to wander without definite aim or direction

"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

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

"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
Meander 2 British  
/ miːˈændə /

noun

  1. a variant spelling of Maeander

"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
meander Scientific  
/ mē-ăn′dər /

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

Other Word Forms

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

Etymology

Origin of meander

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

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Today, after a meandering back and forth about the character, she admits, “I suppose I still need to gather my own point of view on her.”

From Los Angeles Times

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

He was a keen student of dialect; doing movies in the South, he meandered down backroads, learning just the right way to frame a question in rural Mississippi or deliver a compliment in west Texas.

From Los Angeles Times

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

From BBC

Occasionally the wiggles get bigger and that can result in big curves in the flow - like a meandering river.

From BBC

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.