In some schemes, "meandering" applies only to rivers with exaggerated circular loops or secondary meanders that is, meanders on meanders. intransitive verb meander person: wander 1. noun meander (of a river or road) follow a winding course. noun meander ancient name of the Menderes (def 2).
to define the margin of (a body of water) with a meander line. Unless otherwise defined in a specific scheme "meandering" and "sinuosity" here are synonymous and mean any repetitious pattern of bends, or waveforms. verb without object meander to wander aimlessly ramble: The talk meandered on. Parameters based on mathematical formulae or numerical data vary as well, depending on the database used by the theorist.
There is not yet full consistency or standardization of scientific terminology used to describe watercourses. Over time meanders migrate downstream, sometimes in such a short time as to create civil engineering problems for local municipalities attempting to maintain stable roads and bridges. When a meander gets cut off from the main stream, an oxbow lake is formed. The result is a snaking pattern as the stream meanders back and forth across its down-valley axis.
A stream of any volume may assume a meandering course, alternately eroding sediments from the outside of a bend and depositing them on the inside. A meander is formed when the moving water in a stream erodes the outer banks and widens its valley and the inner part of the river has less energy and deposits what it is carrying. Freebase (0.00 / 0 votes) Rate this definition:Ī meander, in general, is a bend in a sinuous watercourse or river.