amble

1 of 2

verb

am·​ble ˈam-bəl How to pronounce amble (audio)
ambled; ambling ˈam-b(ə-)liŋ How to pronounce amble (audio)

intransitive verb

: to go at or as if at an easy gait : saunter
spent the day ambling through the park
ambler noun

amble

2 of 2

noun

1
a
: an easy gait of a horse in which the legs on the same side of the body move together
2
: an easy gait
3
: a leisurely walk
took a casual amble through the gardens

Examples of amble in a Sentence

Verb We ambled along as we talked. They ambled down the road. Noun we had a lovely amble about the quaint village before continuing our drive
Recent Examples on the Web
Verb
Two of his remaining children amble around — too young to understand what had happened to their siblings. Jason Motlagh, Rolling Stone, 26 Nov. 2023 From the intersection of Cascade Drive, Cascade Way, and Molino Avenue in the city of Mill Valley, amble up a series of staircases that ascend through a redwood grove, then stroll along a ridge overlooking stunning coastal valleys. Jenna Scatena, Travel + Leisure, 17 Nov. 2023 The two ambled around then turned around, bumbling back toward the tunnel, but not before showing off the strength of their bond. Sean Mowbray, Discover Magazine, 25 Oct. 2023 Panda lovers ambled outside the panda area and watched the famous trio, taking photos and laughing at the bears’ antics — unaware that this would be the pandas’ last full day in D.C. Olivia Diaz, Washington Post, 9 Nov. 2023 All the others ambled onward between 36% (Pittsburgh) and 53% (Kansas City). Shawn Tully, Fortune, 19 Oct. 2023 But the rest of the album ambles through a signature haze of dreary, mid-tempo beats and meditative piano-lounge instrumentation perfected by Drake’s go-to producer and chief partner, Noah (Forty) Shebib. Carrie Battan, The New Yorker, 13 Oct. 2023 Just sort of ambling past you, a random passerby in whatever oddball, WTF mind movie is unspooling during your usual R.E.M. cycles. David Fear, Rolling Stone, 10 Sep. 2023 When the clip begins, there are no jailers present, but several men are sitting at booths researching or working, and a few more are ambling around the room. Keri Blakinger, Los Angeles Times, 24 June 2023
Noun
Just give yourself more than three days to enjoy morning cappuccinos, cannoli (the Ligurian variety), long ambles, and maybe even a game of bocce with the locals. Kasia Dietz, Condé Nast Traveler, 20 Oct. 2023 And every amble around the grounds was sidetracked by an encounter: with a lizard or a lawn swing or, once, a small plantation of bananas. Travel + Leisure Editors, Travel + Leisure, 24 June 2023 Even a short amble around a local lake or natural area is invigorating on a sunny fall day. Arricca Elin Sansone, House Beautiful, 23 June 2023 An amble through a museum. Thuc Nhi Nguyen, Los Angeles Times, 12 Mar. 2021 There was the athletic-looking youth whose slow amble blocked the walking path so no one else could pass—suboptimal. Lucy Liu, WIRED, 1 Mar. 2023 Back in 2012, researchers from Sweden tied the amble to a very specific region of the genome, a single nucleotide to be exact. Nathaniel Scharping, Discover Magazine, 10 Aug. 2016 Louis Elisa is on his morning walk, an amble around Franklin Park shortly after a cold autumn dawn. Danny McDonald, BostonGlobe.com, 27 Oct. 2022 The cassowary tops out at 31 mph and easily keeps pace with your drunken amble. Peter Stark, Outside Online, 25 June 2013 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'amble.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Verb

Middle English amblen "(of a horse) to go at an amble, go at an easy gait," borrowed from Anglo-French ambler, aumbler (in present participle amblant) (continental Old French anbler), going back to Latin ambulāre "to go on foot, walk, walk for pleasure or health, travel," from amb- "around, about" + -ulāre, probably going back to a verb base *al-, going back to Indo-European *h2elh2- "wander," whence also Umbrian amboltu "(s/he) must go around," Greek aláomai, alâsthai "to wander, roam," Latvian aluôt "to go astray" — more at ambient entry 1

Noun

Middle English ambel, in part borrowed from Middle French amble (going back to Old French, noun derivative of ambler "to amble entry 1"), in part noun derivative of amblen "to amble entry 1

First Known Use

Verb

14th century, in the meaning defined above

Noun

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Time Traveler
The first known use of amble was in the 14th century

Dictionary Entries Near amble

Cite this Entry

“Amble.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/amble. Accessed 2 Dec. 2023.

Kids Definition

amble

1 of 2 verb
am·​ble ˈam-bəl How to pronounce amble (audio)
ambled; ambling -b(ə-)liŋ How to pronounce amble (audio)
: to go at an amble
ambler noun

amble

2 of 2 noun
1
: an easy gait of a horse in which the legs on the same side of the body move together
2
: a leisurely way of walking
Etymology

Verb

Middle English amblen "to walk in a leisurely manner," from early French ambler (same meaning), from Latin ambulare "to walk" — related to ambulance see Word History at ambulance

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