meander

meander
    n 1: a bend or curve, as in a stream or river
    2: an aimless amble on a winding course [syn: {ramble},
       {meander}]
    v 1: to move or cause to move in a sinuous, spiral, or circular
         course; "the river winds through the hills"; "the path
         meanders through the vineyards"; "sometimes, the gout
         wanders through the entire body" [syn: {weave}, {wind},
         {thread}, {meander}, {wander}]
    

Meander \Me*an"der\, v. t.
   To wind, turn, or twist; to make flexuous.     --Dryton.
   [1913 Webster]
    

Meander \Me*an"der\, n. [L. Maeander, orig., a river in Phrygia,
   proverbial for its many windings, Gr. ?: cf. F. m['e]andre.]
   1. A winding, crooked, or involved course; as, the meanders
      of the veins and arteries. --Sir M. Hale.
      [1913 Webster]

            While lingering rivers in meanders glide. --Sir R.
                                                  Blackmore.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. A tortuous or intricate movement.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. (Arch.) Fretwork. See {Fret}.
      [1913 Webster]
    

Meander \Me*an"der\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Meandered}; p. pr. &
   vb. n. {Meandering}.]
   To wind or turn in a course or passage; to be intricate.
   [1913 Webster]

         Five miles meandering with a mazy motion
         Through wood and dale the sacred river ran.
                                                  --Coleridge.
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MEANDER, n.  To proceed sinuously and aimlessly.  The word is the
ancient name of a river about one hundred and fifty miles south of
Troy, which turned and twisted in the effort to get out of hearing
when the Greeks and Trojans boasted of their prowess.
    

137 Moby Thesaurus words for "meander":
      Chinese puzzle, Gordian knot, Rube Goldberg contraption, S-curve,
      ambages, amble, anfractuosity, bat around, bend, bending, bends,
      bow, bowing, bum, can of worms, circuitousness, circumambages,
      circumbendibus, circumlocution, circumvolution, coils, complex,
      conflexure, contort, convolution, corkscrew, count ties, crinkle,
      crinkling, curves, deflection, divagate, drift, err, excurse,
      flection, flex, flexuosity, flexuousness, flexure, flit, gad,
      gad about, gallivant, geanticline, geosyncline, go about,
      go adrift, go astray, go the rounds, hairpin turn, hit the road,
      hit the trail, hobo, inflection, intorsion, intort, involution,
      jaunt, jungle, knock about, knock around, knot, labyrinth, loops,
      maze, meandering, mesh, mess, mooch, mosey, nomadize, oxbow,
      peregrinate, pererrate, perplex, prowl, ramble, range, ravel,
      reflection, rivulation, roam, rove, run about, saunter, scallop,
      screw, serpentine, sinuation, sinuosity, sinuousness, slink,
      slinkiness, snafu, snake, snake pit, snakiness, snarl, straggle,
      stray, stroll, sweep, swirl, tangle, tangled skein, torsion,
      tortility, tortuosity, tortuousness, traipse, tramp, turn, turning,
      twine, twirl, twist, twist and turn, twisting, undulation,
      vagabond, vagabondize, walk the tracks, wander, wave, waving,
      wayfare, webwork, wheels within wheels, whirl, whorl, wilderness,
      wind, winding, worm, wring, zigzag