maunder
Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Contents |
English[edit]
Pronunciation[edit]
Verb[edit]
maunder (third-person singular simple present maunders, present participle maundering, simple past and past participle maundered)
- To speak in a disorganized or desultory manner; to babble or prattle.
- Sir Walter Scott
- He was ever maundering by the how that he met a party of scarlet devils.
- Sir Walter Scott
- To wander or walk aimlessly.
Quotations[edit]
- 1827 — Samuel Johnson, A Dictionary of the English Language
- 2. To wander about in a thoughtful manner; to talk confusedly; [perhaps from the Gael. mandagh, a stutterer.] A northern word. It is written both maunder and mander.
- 1834 — Maria Edgeworth, Helen, v. 3, ch V
- "Not so fast, Lady Cecilia; not yet;" and now Louisa went on with a medical maundering. "As to low spirits, my dear Cecilia, I must say I agree with Sir Sib Pennyfeather, who tells me it is not mere common low spirits [...]"
- 1871 — Henry James, A Passionate Pilgrim, ch IV
- On the following day my friend's exhaustion had become so great that I began to fear his intelligence altogether broken up. But toward evening he briefly rallied, to maunder about many things, confounding in a sinister jumble the memories of the past weeks and those of bygone years.
- 1889 — Mark Twain, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, ch XVII
- "What are you maundering about? He's going out from here a free man and whole—he's not going to die."
Synonyms[edit]
Related terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
- Spanish: divagar, holgazanear
Noun[edit]
maunder (plural maunders)
Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
