walkabout

noun

walk·about ˈwȯ-kə-ˌbau̇t

: a short period of wandering bush life engaged in by an Australian aborigine as an occasional interruption of regular work

—often used in the phrase go walkabout

the man who went walkabout was making a ritual journey—

Bruce Chatwin

: something (such as a journey) similar to a walkabout

: a walking tour

especially, British : one in which a well-known person mingles with the public

went walkabout in the streets

Examples of walkabout in a Sentence

Many people gathered to meet the Queen during her walkabout.

Recent Examples on the Web On Tuesday while taking a surprise walkabout in New York City after an engagement at the Ten House Fire Department, the Prince of Wales, 41, shook the hands of six friends from Canada who happened to be on their 60th birthday trip. —

Jordan Greene, Peoplemag, 20 Sep. 2023 Prince Harry with Prince William on a walkabout the day before his wedding to Meghan Markle. —

Alyssa Bailey, ELLE, 6 Jan. 2023 Prince William, heir to the throne, and his wife, Kate, also greeted the public during the walkabout, talking to fans on the opposite side of The Mall, posing for selfies and chatting. —

Brian Melley, BostonGlobe.com, 5 May 2023 The chat appeared to happen during a surprise walkabout in Windsor on May 7, when Prince William and Kate Middleton surprised locals who gathered for a Big Lunch the day after the coronation of King Charles and Queen Camilla. —

Janine Henni, Peoplemag, 18 July 2023 Wooller just got funding on another project to study details of mammoth walkabouts in Alaska and the Yukon available from isotope samples of tusks. —

Ned Rozell | Alaska Science, Anchorage Daily News, 1 July 2023 Devote the first day to pharaonic Egypt: the pyramids of Giza and the Sphinx in the morning, followed by the Memphis Museum and a walkabout of the vast funerary complex of Sakkara. —

Klara Glowczewska, Town & Country, 18 June 2023 In November, Princess Kate smiled and kept moving when she was briefly heckled by a woman in the crowd of a walkabout during her visit to Northern Ireland with Prince William. Can't get enough of PEOPLE's Royals coverage? —

Janine Henni, Peoplemag, 25 May 2023 But then in the afternoon, when the sun peeked out, the royals stepped out of their cars for a walkabout. —

Karla Adam, Washington Post, 5 May 2023 See More

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