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ramble - 5 dictionary results

ram⋅ble

  [ram-buhl] verb, -bled, -bling, noun
Use ramble in a Sentence
–verb (used without object)
1. to wander around in a leisurely, aimless manner: They rambled through the shops until closing time.
2. to take a course with many turns or windings, as a stream or path.
3. to grow in a random, unsystematic fashion: The vine rambled over the walls and tree trunks.
4. to talk or write in a discursive, aimless way (usually fol. by on): The speaker rambled on with anecdote after anecdote.
–verb (used with object)
5. to walk aimlessly or idly over or through: They spent the spring afternoon rambling woodland paths.
–noun
6. a walk without a definite route, taken merely for pleasure.
Origin:
1610–20; orig. uncert.

Synonyms:
1. stroll, saunter, amble, stray, straggle. See roam.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To ramble
ram·ble   (rām'bəl)   
intr.v.   ram·bled, ram·bling, ram·bles
  1. To move about aimlessly. See Synonyms at wander.
  2. To walk about casually or for pleasure.
  3. To follow an irregularly winding course of motion or growth.
  4. To speak or write at length and with many digressions.
n.  A leisurely, sometimes lengthy walk.

[Probably from Middle Dutch *rammelen, to wander about in a state of sexual desire, from rammen, to copulate with.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Ramble

Ram"ble\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Rambled; p. pr. & vb. n. Rambling.] [For rammle, fr. Prov. E. rame to roam. Cf. Roam.]

1. To walk, ride, or sail, from place to place, without any determinate object in view; to roam carelessly or irregularly; to rove; to wander; as, to ramble about the city; to ramble over the world.

He that is at liberty to ramble in perfect darkness, what is his liberty better than if driven up and down as a bubble by the wind? --Locke.

2. To talk or write in a discursive, aimless way.

3. To extend or grow at random. --Thomson.

Syn: To rove; roam; wander; range; stroll.

Ramble

Ram"ble\, n. 1. A going or moving from place to place without any determinate business or object; an excursion or stroll merely for recreation.

Coming home, after a short Christians ramble. --Swift.

2. [Cf. Rammel.] (Coal Mining) A bed of shale over the seam. --Raymond.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : ramble
Spanish: pasear por el campo; dar una caminata,
German: umherstreifen,
Japanese: ぶらつく
More Translations »

ramble  (v.)
c.1443, perhaps frequentative of romen "to walk, go" (see roam), perhaps via romblen (c.1378) "to ramble." The vowel change probably by infl. of M.Du. rammelen, a derivative of rammen "copulate," "used of the night wanderings of the amorous cat" [Weekley]. Meaning "to talk or write incoherently" is from 1640.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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