as in daydreaming
the state of being lost in thought
my woolgathering was abruptly interrupted by a question from the flight attendant
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Recent Examples of woolgathering
Today, woolgathering sounds harmless – one wanders contentedly among the hedgerows.
—
Melissa Mohr, The Christian Science Monitor, 11 July 2022
All this woolgathering about AGAD has inspired me to fire up the Idea Oven again for old time’s sake.
—Eric Zorn, chicagotribune.com, 30 Apr. 2021
Melissa Mohr, The Christian Science Monitor, 11 July 2022
All this woolgathering about AGAD has inspired me to fire up the Idea Oven again for old time’s sake.
—Eric Zorn, chicagotribune.com, 30 Apr. 2021
Recent Examples of Synonyms for woolgathering
Noun
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No amount of daydreaming would have been able to replace the knowledge that Lenny could have shared.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
14 May 2026
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But across the rest of the record, whether retelling or daydreaming, Hawke maintains a writerly attention to assonance and rhyme.—
Caitlin Wolper Phillips,
Pitchfork,
4 May 2026
Noun
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Pulling us into a trance-like state.—
Emily Zemler,
Rolling Stone,
1 May 2026
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Throughout much of Buddhist history, and particularly in Theravada Buddhist contexts, mindfulness and its associated meditation methods have been the purview of mendicants (monks and nuns), who used mindfulness meditation to achieve trance states (jhana) leading to nirvana.—
Charles Preston,
Encyclopedia Britannica,
30 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Woolgathering.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/woolgathering. Accessed 15 May. 2026.
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