Meander - Definition and Overview

The word meander has a number of senses.

• Some places in Tasmania, Australia:
  • Meander, Tasmania
  • Meander River, Tasmania
  • Meander Valley

• A bend in a river, also known as an oxbow loop. This usage derives from the name of the Maeander River in Turkey.
• To meander: For a river to behave like the river Maeander. This is a term for the snaking movement a river may make as it runs through a flat plain with easily erosible soils.
• To walk at a lazy pace and not usually in a straight line, like a meandering river.
• In art and architecture, a meander is a decorative border constructed from a continuous line, shaped into a repeated motif. See meander (architecture).
• In mathematics, a meander is a self-avoiding closed curve which intersects a line a number of times (see meander (mathematics)).