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ramble

UK/ˈɹæmbəl/ US/ˈræmbʌl/ uncommon
verb (2) noun (1)

verb

1.

continue talking or writing in a desultory manner

  • “This novel rambles on and jogs”
Synonyms
2.

move about aimlessly or without any destination, often in search of food or employment

  • “The gypsies roamed the woods”
  • “roving vagabonds”
  • “the wandering Jew”
  • “The cattle roam across the prairie”
  • “the laborers drift from one town to the next”
  • “They rolled from town to town”
Synonyms

noun

1.

Origin

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".

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WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.