Definition of: wander

(won′dər) v.i.
1. To move or travel about without destination or purpose; roam; rove.
2. To go casually or by an indirect route; idle; stroll.
3. To extend in an irregular course; twist or meander.
4. To turn from a true or direct course; stray.
5. To deviate in conduct or opinion; go astray.
6. To think or speak deliriously or irrationally.
—v.t.
7. Poetic To wander through or across.
—noun The act of wandering; a ramble. [OE wandrian]
—wan′der·er noun
—wan′der·ing adjective
—wan′der·ing·ly adverb Synonyms (verb): deviate, digress, diverge, err, ramble, range, roam, rove, stray, swerve, veer. To wander is to move in an indefinite or indeterminate way which may or may not be a departure from a prescribed way; to deviate is to turn from a prescribed or right way, physically, mentally, or morally, usually in an unfavorable sense; to diverge is to turn from a course previously followed or that something else follows, and has no unfavorable implication; to digress is used only with reference to speaking or writing; to err is used of intellectual or moral action. To swerve or veer is to turn suddenly from a prescribed or previous course, and often but momentarily; veer is more capricious and repetitious; the horse swerves at the flash of a sword; the wind veers; the ship veers with the wind. To stray is to go in a somewhat purposeless way aside from the regular path or usual limits or abode, usually with unfavorable implication; cattle stray from their pastures; an author strays from his subject. Stray is in most uses a lighter word than wander. Ramble in its literal use is always a word of pleasant suggestion, but in its figurative use somewhat contemptuous; as, rambling talk. See RAMBLE.