Wander

• POS: Noun, Verb (usu participle)
• HYPHEN: wan=der

CIDE DICTIONARY

Wander, v. i. [OE. wandren, wandrien, AS. wandrian; akin to G. wandern to wander; fr. AS. windan to turn. See Wind to turn.].

•  To ramble here and there without any certain course or with no definite object in view; to range about; to stroll; to rove; as, to wander over the fields.  [1913 Webster]

  "They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins."  [1913 Webster]

  "He wandereth abroad for bread."  [1913 Webster]
•  To go away; to depart; to stray off; to deviate; to go astray; as, a writer wanders from his subject.  [1913 Webster]

  "When God caused me to wander from my father's house."  [1913 Webster]

  "O, let me not wander from thy commandments."  [1913 Webster]
•  To be delirious; not to be under the guidance of reason; to rave; as, the mind wanders.  [1913 Webster]

Syn. -- To roam; rove; range; stroll; gad; stray; straggly; err; swerve; deviate; depart.

Wander, v. t. 

 To travel over without a certain course; to traverse; to stroll through.  Milton.  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

Wander, v. & n.
--v.
1 intr. (often foll. by in, off, etc.) go about from place to place aimlessly.
2 intr. a (of a person, river, road, etc.) wind about; diverge; meander. b (of esp. a person) get lost; leave home; stray from a path etc.
3 intr. talk or think incoherently; be inattentive or delirious.
4 tr. cover while wandering (wanders the world).
--n. the act or an instance of wandering (went for a wander round the garden).

Idiom

wandering Jew
1 a a legendary person said to have been condemned by Christ to wander the earth until the second advent. b a person who never settles down.
2 a a climbing plant, Tradescantia albiflora, with stemless variegated leaves. b a trailing plant, Zebrina pendula, with pink flowers. wandering sailor the moneywort. wander-plug a plug that can be fitted into any of various sockets in an electrical device.

Derivative

wanderer n. wandering n. (esp. in pl.).

Etymology

OE wandrian (as WEND)

THESAURUS

Wander

amble, babble, bat, bat around, be absent, be in error, be insane, be mistaken, be wrong, boom, bum, circumambulate, count ties, daydream, depart, deviate, digress, divagate, diverge, dote, dream, drift, drivel, drool, err, excurse, fall into error, fantasy, flit, gad, gad about, gallivant, get sidetracked, go about, go adrift, go amiss, go astray, go awry, go the rounds, go woolgathering, go wrong, have a demon, hit the road, hit the trail, hobo, jaunt, knock about, knock around, lapse, maunder, meander, misbelieve, miscalculate, mooch, moon, muse, nomadize, peregrinate, pererrate, pipe-dream, project, prowl, rage, ramble, range, rant, rave, roam, roll, rove, run about, run amok, run mad, saunter, serve Mammon, slaver, slip, slip up, slobber, snake, stargaze, straggle, stray, stroll, stumble, trail, traipse, tramp, trip, turn aside, twist, twist and turn, vagabond, vagabondize, walk the tracks, wayfare, wind

ROGET THESAURUS

Wander

Motion

VB be in motion, move, go, hie, gang, budge, stir, pass, flit, hover about, hover round, hover about, shift, slide, glide, roll, roll on, flow, stream, run, drift, sweep along, wander, walk, change one's place, shift one's place, change one's quarters, shift one's quarters, dodge, keep going, keep moving, put in motion, set in motion, move, impel, propel, render movable, mobilize.

Journey

VB travel, journey, course, take a journey, go a journey, take a walk, go out for walk, have a run, take the air, flit, take wing, migrate, emigrate, trek, rove, prowl, roam, range, patrol, pace up and down, traverse, scour the country, traverse the country, peragrate, circumambulate, perambulate, nomadize, wander, ramble, stroll, saunter, hover, go one's rounds, straggle, gad, gad about, expatiate, walk, march, step, tread, pace, plod, wend, go by shank's mare, promenade, trudge, tramp, stalk, stride, straddle, strut, foot it, hoof it, stump, bundle, bowl along, toddle, paddle, tread a path, take horse, ride, drive, trot, amble, canter, prance, fisk, frisk, caracoler, caracole, gallop, embark, board, set out, hit the road, get going, get underway, peg on, jog on, wag on, shuffle on, stir one's stumps, bend one's steps, bend one's course, make one's way, find one's way, wend one's way, pick one's way, pick one's way, thread one's way, plow one's way, slide, glide, coast, skim, skate, march in procession, file on, defile, go to, repair to, resort to, hie to, betake oneself to.

Deviation

VB alter one's course, deviate, depart from, turn, trend, bend, curve, swerve, heel, bear off, gybe, wear, intervert, deflect, divert, divert from its course, put on a new scent, shift, shunt, draw aside, crook, warp, stray, straggle, sidle, diverge, tralineate, digress, wander, wind, twist, meander, veer, tack, divagate, sidetrack, turn aside, turn a corner, turn away from, wheel, steer clear of, ramble, rove, drift, go astray, go adrift, yaw, dodge, step aside, ease off, make way for, shy, fly off at a tangent, glance off, wheel about, face about, turn to the right about, face to the right about, waddle, go out of one's way, lose one's way.

Insanity

VB be insane, become insane, lose one's senses, lose one's reason, lose one's faculties, lose one's wits, go mad, run mad, lose one's marbles, go crazy, go bonkers, flip one's wig, flip one's lid, flip out, flip one's bush, rave, dote, ramble, wander, drivel, have a screw loose, have a devil, avoir le diable au corps, lose one's head, render mad, drive mad, madden, dementate, addle the wits, addle the brain, derange the head, infatuate, befool, turn the brain, turn one's head, drive one nuts.