Definition of "meander" in English

noun

1. (often plural) One of the turns of a winding, crooked, or involved course.

   • the meanders of an old river, or of the veins and arteries in the body

2. (geography) One of a series of regular sinuous curves, bends, loops, turns, or windings in the channel of a river, stream, or other watercourse

3. A tortuous or winding journey.

4. Synonym of Greek key, a decorative border; fretwork.

5. (mathematics) A self-avoiding closed curve which intersects a line a number of times.

6. (possibly obsolete) A path on which the directions, distances, and elevations are noted, as a part of a land survey.

7. (architecture) A decorative border consisting of a repeated linear motif, particularly of intersecting perpendicular lines.

verb

1. (intransitive) To wind or turn in a course or passage

   • The stream meandered through the valley.

2. (intransitive) To be intricate.

   • His speech meandered through various topics.

3. (transitive) To wind, turn, or twist; to make flexuous.