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Webster 1913 Edition


Wander

Wan′der

,
Verb.
I.
[
imp. & p. p.
Wandered
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Wandering
.]
[OE.
wandren
,
wandrien
, AS.
wandrian
; akin to G.
wandern
to wander; fr. AS.
windan
to turn. See
Wind
to turn.]
1.
To ramble here and there without any certain course or with no definite object in view; to range about; to stroll; to rove;
as, to
wander
over the fields
.
They
wandered
about in sheepskins and goatskins.
Heb. xi. 37.
He
wandereth
abroad for bread.
Job xv. 23.
2.
To go away; to depart; to stray off; to deviate; to go astray;
as, a writer
wanders
from his subject
.
When God caused me to
wander
from my father’s house.
Gen. xx. 13.
O, let me not
wander
from thy commandments.
Ps. cxix. 10.
3.
To be delirious; not to be under the guidance of reason; to rave;
as, the mind
wanders
.
Syn. – To roam; rove; range; stroll; gad; stray; straggly; err; swerve; deviate; depart.

Wan′der

,
Verb.
T.
To travel over without a certain course; to traverse; to stroll through.
[R.]
“[Elijah] wandered this barren waste.”
Milton.

Webster 1828 Edition


Wander

WANDER

,
Verb.
I.
[G., to wander, to walk, to change, exchange or transform.]
1.
To rove; to ramble here and there without any certain course or object in view; as, to wander over the fields; to wander about the town, or about the country. Men may sometimes wander for amusement or exercise. Persons sometimes wander because they have no home and are wretched, and sometimes because they have no occupation.
They wandered about in sheep-skins and goat-skins. Hebrews 11.
He wandereth abroad for bread. Job 15.
He was wandering in the field. Genesis 37.
2.
To leave home; to depart; to migrate.
When God caused me to wander from my fathers house-- Genesis 20.
3.
To depart from the subject in discussion; as, to wander from the point.
4.
In a moral sense, to stray; to deviate; to depart from duty or rectitude.
O let me not wander from they commandments. Psalm 119.
5.
To be delirious; not to be under the guidance of reason; as, the mind wanders.

WANDER

,
Verb.
T.
To travel over without a certain course.
Wandring many a famous realm. [Elliptical.]