ramble
/'ræmbl/
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
Verb:
- To walk for pleasure, typically without a specific route or destination, often in a leisurely or aimless manner.
- To talk or write at length in a confused, wandering, or unfocused way, often straying from the main topic.
Noun:
- A leisurely, often long walk taken for pleasure, especially in the countryside, without a fixed route.
Usage and Examples
Verb (to walk aimlessly):
- We decided to ramble through the forest paths for the afternoon.
- She loves to ramble along the beach, collecting shells.
Verb (to speak/write in a wandering way):
- The professor tends to ramble during his lectures, making it hard to follow the key points.
- The article rambles for several pages before getting to its central argument.
Noun (a leisurely walk):
- We went for a lovely ramble in the hills.
- The guidebook suggests several scenic rambles in the area.
Advanced Usage
"To ramble on": To continue talking or writing in a lengthy, unfocused, and often tedious way.
- He rambled on about his childhood for nearly an hour.
"To go rambling": To engage in the activity of taking long walks in the countryside for pleasure.
- They spend their weekends going rambling in the national park.
Variants and Related Words
- Rambler (noun): A person who goes for long walks in the countryside for pleasure.
- The path is popular with ramblers.
- Rambling (adjective): Describing speech or writing that is long-winded and unfocused; also describing a building that spreads out in an irregular, sprawling way.
- He gave a rambling explanation. (unfocused speech)
- They live in a large, rambling old house. (sprawling building)
Synonyms
- Verb (walk): Roam, wander, stroll, meander.
- Verb (speak/write): Dither, digress, maunder, drivel.
- Noun (walk): Stroll, hike, trek, perambulation.
Related Phrasal Verbs
- Ramble on: To talk or write continuously and at length in a disorganized way.
- Once he starts talking about politics, he just rambles on.
Related Idioms
- "Off on a ramble": Starting to talk in a long, unfocused way about something.
- Every time I ask him a simple question, he goes off on a ramble.
Noun
- an aimless amble on a winding course
Verb
- 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
- continue talking or writing in a desultory manner
- This novel rambles on and jogs