wander
wander
Definition
wan·der (wän′dər)
intransitive verb
- to move or go about aimlessly, without plan or fixed destination; ramble; roam
- to go to a destination in a casual way or by an indirect route; idle; stroll
- to turn aside or astray (from a path, course, etc.); lose one's way
- to stray from home, friends, familiar places, etc.: often with off
- to go astray in mind or purpose; specif.,
- to drift away from a subject, as in discussion; stray or roam in thought
- to turn away from accepted belief or morals
- to be disjointed, disordered, incoherent, etc.
- to pass or extend in an irregular course; meander, as a river
- to move idly from one object to another: said of the eyes, a glance, the hands, etc.
Etymology: ME wandren < OE wandrian, akin to Ger wandern, akin ? to wend, wind
transitive verb
to roam through, in, or over without plan or destination to wander the world
wander
Synonyms
wander
v.
wander
Usage Examples
Object
- minstrel: There were traveling merchants together with fortune tellers, ballad singers and wandering minstrels.
- albatross: The largest species, the wandering albatross, has a wingspan of 11 feet and can live for 50 years or more.
- street: With only a few media lot wandering the streets.
- round: She wanders round ok, not hiding or shy or anything... .
- corridor: Her ghost has been seen wandering corridors searching for him.
- downstairs: A GM tournament would probably be played in a hotel, and the players would just wander downstairs and play.
Preposition: at
- will: Here we are free to shop, to visit the museum or just wander at will.
Preposition: through
- maze: You're wandering through a cavernous, low-ceilinged maze, discovering new areas and bars at every turn.
- wilderness: It was a tent, really, for pilgrims who wandered through the wilderness going from Egypt to the promised Canaan land.
Modifying Another Word
- aimlessly: People wander aimlessly about these ruins - you'll never be alone here.
Followed by an intransitive particle
- around: He wandered around with a very sad frown on his face.
- off: We would often wander off whilst the women of the house cooked Sunday Dinner.
- across: We wandered across to the main stage and caught the end of Marilyn Manson.
- over: Two minutes from the end the drummer wanders over to the bar.
- through: The oak wood is delightful to wander through on the way to the summit.
- along: Charlie landed on the branch of a Beech tree, next to the path the puppy was wandering along.
Followed by a transitive particle
- around: Never wander around the back streets of the island's cities at night.
Used with why or when
- wherever: Great wildlife begins right outside the door and you can wander wherever you like.
Preposition: in
- wilderness: There were forty years of wandering in the wilderness following the exodus, for example.
- desert: While wandering in the desert, God helped them find water and sent them manna from heaven - a kind of flat bread.
wander Quotes
I strongly wish for what I faintly hope: Like the day-dreams of melancholy men, I think and thinkon things impossible, Yet love to wander in that golden maze.
Browse dictionary entries near wander
- Wanda
- wand
- Wanamaker
- WAN Interface Sublayer
- wan
- wampum
- Wampanoags
- Wampanoag
- wame
- wambly
- wanderer
- wandering
- wandering albatross
- Wandering Jew
- wanderingly
- Wanderjahr
- Wanderjahre
- wanderlust
- Wandsworth
- wane
