random walk
noun
: a process (such as Brownian motion or genetic drift) consisting of a sequence of steps (such as movements or changes in gene frequency) each of whose characteristics (such as magnitude and direction) is determined by chance
Examples of random walk in a Sentence
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Among other things, this understanding will help computer scientists to prioritize among different random sampling techniques — to figure out when the most basic random walk is best, and when a more sophisticated but computationally expensive algorithm will perform better.
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Quanta Magazine, 1 Mar. 2021
The notion of a random walk is based in part on the physics concept of Brownian motion.
—Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 9 Feb. 2023
Neutral theory posited that most substitutions were not driven by natural selection, but rather random walk processes.
—Razib Khan, Discover Magazine, 23 Feb. 2011
The fixation of neutral variants is random walk, and the time until fixation is directly proportional to population size.
—Razib Khan, Discover Magazine, 23 Feb. 2011
Quanta Magazine, 1 Mar. 2021
The notion of a random walk is based in part on the physics concept of Brownian motion.
—Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 9 Feb. 2023
Neutral theory posited that most substitutions were not driven by natural selection, but rather random walk processes.
—Razib Khan, Discover Magazine, 23 Feb. 2011
The fixation of neutral variants is random walk, and the time until fixation is directly proportional to population size.
—Razib Khan, Discover Magazine, 23 Feb. 2011
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'random walk.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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“Random walk.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/random%20walk. Accessed 24 Apr. 2024.
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