Library / English Dictionary

SAUNTER

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

A leisurely walk (usually in some public place)

Synonyms:

amble; perambulation; promenade; saunter; stroll

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("saunter" is a kind of...):

walk (the act of walking somewhere)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "saunter"):

meander; ramble (an aimless amble on a winding course)

walkabout (a public stroll by a celebrity to meet people informally)

Derivation:

saunter (walk leisurely and with no apparent aim)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A careless leisurely gait

Example:

he walked with a kind of saunter as if he hadn't a care in the world

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("saunter" is a kind of...):

gait (a person's manner of walking)

Derivation:

saunter (walk leisurely and with no apparent aim)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Walk leisurely and with no apparent aim

Synonyms:

saunter; stroll

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Hypernyms (to "saunter" is one way to...):

walk (use one's feet to advance; advance by steps)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s PP

Sentence example:

The children saunter to the playground

Derivation:

saunter (a leisurely walk (usually in some public place))

saunter (a careless leisurely gait)

saunterer (someone who walks at a leisurely pace)

Credits

 Context examples: 

A saunter into other meadows, and through part of the village, with a visit to the stables to examine some improvements, and a charming game of play with a litter of puppies just able to roll about, brought them to four o'clock, when Catherine scarcely thought it could be three.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

She went, however, and they sauntered about together many an half-hour in Mrs. Grant's shrubbery, the weather being unusually mild for the time of year, and venturing sometimes even to sit down on one of the benches now comparatively unsheltered, remaining there perhaps till, in the midst of some tender ejaculation of Fanny's on the sweets of so protracted an autumn, they were forced, by the sudden swell of a cold gust shaking down the last few yellow leaves about them, to jump up and walk for warmth.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

And there, as they slowly paced the gradual ascent, heedless of every group around them, seeing neither sauntering politicians, bustling housekeepers, flirting girls, nor nursery-maids and children, they could indulge in those retrospections and acknowledgements, and especially in those explanations of what had directly preceded the present moment, which were so poignant and so ceaseless in interest.

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

Mr. Spenlow and I falling into this conversation, prolonged it and our saunter to and fro, until we diverged into general topics.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

At four o'clock he executed a running jump, gained the roof of the chicken-house and leaped to the ground outside, whence he sauntered gravely to the house.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

He stood by the weather rail for a time (we were lowering over the lee rail), and then sauntered slowly amidships, where he again paused and stood facing the wind, with his back toward us.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

Nay, had she been without his arm, she would soon have known that she needed it, for she wanted strength for a two hours' saunter of this kind, coming, as it generally did, upon a week's previous inactivity.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

Haughty English, lively French, sober Germans, handsome Spaniards, ugly Russians, meek Jews, free-and-easy Americans, all drive, sit, or saunter here, chatting over the news, and criticizing the latest celebrity who has arrived—Ristori or Dickens, Victor Emmanuel or the Queen of the Sandwich Islands.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

As the shops had charms for Peggotty which I never knew them possess in the same degree for anybody else, I sauntered easily along, amused by her staring in at the windows, and waiting for her as often as she chose.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

With Jordan's slender golden arm resting in mine we descended the steps and sauntered about the garden.

(The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald)