wander Hear it!

wander Definition

wan·der (wändər)

intransitive verb

  1. to move or go about aimlessly, without plan or fixed destination; ramble; roam
  2. to go to a destination in a casual way or by an indirect route; idle; stroll
    1. to turn aside or astray (from a path, course, etc.); lose one's way
    2. to stray from home, friends, familiar places, etc.: often with off
  3. to go astray in mind or purpose; specif.,
    1. to drift away from a subject, as in discussion; stray or roam in thought
    2. to turn away from accepted belief or morals
    3. to be disjointed, disordered, incoherent, etc.
  4. to pass or extend in an irregular course; meander, as a river
  5. 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

Related Forms:

wander Synonyms

wander

v.

  1. To stroll

    hike, ramble, saunter; see roam, walk 1.

  2. To speak or think incoherently

    stray, shift, digress; see ramble 2.

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.

—Dryden,John

Browse dictionary entries near wander

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