ramble
/ˈɹæmbəl/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.85 in modern English
10
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
2
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A leisurely stroll; a recreational walk in the countryside.
verb
To move about aimlessly, or on a winding course.
verb
To talk or write incessantly, unclearly, or incoherently, with many digressions.
Example Sentences
- "Marianne was prevailed upon to join her sisters in their usual walk, instead of wandering away by herself. Hitherto she had carefully avoided every companion in her rambles. If her sisters intended to walk on the downs, she directly stole away towards the lanes;[…]"
- "The place was a favourite with all, and the ramble in this quarter was quite a regular custom of the afternoon with the fair heiress of Colonel Walton in particular."
- "Someone proposed that we play in one of the small clearings in a gay crusing ^([sic]) area in Central Park called the rambles."
- "Weak from drifting on the longest mosey ever rambled. Weeks with no meal or beverage. Blistering desert pounding me to the crosine-tipped ^([sic]) brink of insanity. Yet perhaps there is truth in sand madness."
- "1994, Richard Thompson, “Beeswing” We was drinking more in those days and tempers reached a pitch And like a fool I let her run with the rambling itch"
- "Francine has a tendency to ramble when it gets to be late in the evening."
Etymology
An altered form (with dissimilation of mm to mb) of dialectal rammle, from Middle English *ramlen, *ramelen, frequentative of Middle English ramen (“to roam, ramble”); compare Swedish ramla (“to stumble; fall; make a noise; rumble”), Danish ramle (“to stumble; collapse; thunder; boom”); equivalent to roam + -le. "mid-15 c., perhaps frequentative of 'romen' 'to walk, go' perhaps via 'romblen' (late 14 c.) 'to ramble.' The vowel change perhaps by influence of Middle Dutch 'rammelen,' a derivative of 'rammen' 'copulate,' 'used of the night wanderings of the amorous cat.' Meaning 'to talk or write incoherently' is from 1630s".