rambling

• (Received Pronunciation, US) IPA^(key): /ˈɹæm.blɪŋ/

• Audio (Southern England)

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• Rhymes: -æmblɪŋ

rambling

1. present participle and gerund of ramble

rambling

1. Of a speech: meandering, long and digressing.
2. Confused and irregular; awkward.
   • 1859, Charles Dickens, The Haunted House:

     Except that the house had an immensely large rambling loft at top, I made no other discoveries.

3. Winding irregularly in various directions.
   • 1949 November and December, K. Longbottom, “By Goods Train to Gweedore”, in Railway Magazine, page 353:

     A long somewhat rambling branch, avoiding the places most likely to supply it with traffic, but not the centres of scenic interest, began at Letterkenny and reached the sea at Burtonport.

• (digressing): desultory

rambling (plural ramblings)

1. A long meandering talk with no specific topic or direction.
   • 1941, Harold Sinclair, Years of Illusion, page 145:

     […] listening with great interest to Martha's ramblings about "The War."

2. A gentle hike.

• rambling rose

• marbling