Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- v. To walk slowly or leisurely; stroll.
- v. To move along at an easy gait by using both legs on one side alternately with both on the other. Used of a horse.
- n. An unhurried or leisurely walk.
- n. An easy gait, especially that of a horse.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- To move with the peculiar pace of a horse when it first lifts the two legs on one side, and then the two on the other; hence, to move easily and gently, without hard shocks.
- To ride an ambling horse; ride at an easy pace.
- Figuratively, to move affectedly.
- n. A peculiar gait of a horse or like animal, in which both legs on one side are moved at the same time; hence, easy motion; gentle pace. Also called pace (which see).
Wiktionary
- n. An unhurried leisurely walk or stroll.
- n. An easy gait, especially that of a horse (as above).
- v. intransitive To stroll or walk slowly and leisurely.
- v. intransitive Of a horse: to move along by using both legs on one side, and then the other.
GNU Webster's 1913
- v. To go at the easy gait called an amble; -- applied to the horse or to its rider.
- v. To move somewhat like an ambling horse; to go easily or without hard shocks.
- n. A peculiar gait of a horse, in which both legs on the same side are moved at the same time, alternating with the legs on the other side.
- n. A movement like the amble of a horse.
WordNet 3.0
- n. a leisurely walk (usually in some public place)
- v. walk leisurely
Etymologies
- From Old French ambler ("walk as a horse does"), from Latin ambulo ("walk"). (Wiktionary)
- Middle English amblen, from Old French ambler, from Latin ambulāre, to walk. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“So he and his wife mounted their beasts and Abd al-Kaddus whistled, when, behold, a mighty big elephant trotted up with fore hand and feet on amble from the heart of the desert and he took it and mounted it.”
“In our flight over the de - fert I laboured under one great and pecu - liar difadvantage, I mean my inability to keep the camel to his proper pace; for thofe who are ufed to travel on this ani - mal feldom go at a trot, but almoft always at a kind of amble, which is equally expe - ditious, and much lefs fevere to the rider.”
Internet Archive: Travels round the world, in the years 1767, 1768, 1769, 1770, 1771
“The "amble" to Country Kitchen after Formal was cold, but fun.”
“Countess Bonina, with whom he had danced the first half of the waltz, and, scanning his kingdom — that is to say, a few couples who had started dancing — he caught sight of Kitty, entering, and flew up to her with that peculiar, easy amble which is confined to directors of balls.”
“He had only just left the Countess Banin, with whom he had danced the first half of the waltz, and scanning his kingdomthat is to say, a few couples who had started dancinghe caught sight of Kitty, entering, and flew up to her with that peculiar, easy amble which is confined to directors of balls.”
“In the hands, moreover, of the poets of this particular time, whether they were printed at length or cut up into eights and sixes, they had an almost irresistible tendency to degenerate into a kind of lolloping amble which is inexpressibly monotonous.”
“But this quiet pace did not last, for, the road becoming level, the pony took to a kind of amble which seemed its natural pace, and was soon urged from that into a gallop by its driver.”
“Countess Bonina, with whom he had danced the first half of the waltz, and, scanning his kingdom -- that is to say, a few couples who had started dancing -- he caught sight of Kitty, entering, and flew up to her with that peculiar, easy amble which is confined to directors of balls.”
“Their pace is a kind of amble, and they are able to sustain a journey of about twenty leagues a day.”
“They have to wait for me to kind of amble over there.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘amble’.
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GRE Barrons Wordlist
A complete Barron's Wordlist for GRE preparation. Your online flashcard replacement.
abase, abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abject, abjure and 4087 more...
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LIT - Ulysses - key words and phrases
vanish, number one, archangel, commodious, dominie, rubble, glisten, morose, spindle, ventilation, Blessed, christian and 503 more...
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SMILE and other emotive verbs
Single verbs that describe expression or emotional reaction. "He __ed" (smiled/gulped/scoffed...)
smile, beam, sneer, scoff, giggle, laugh, snigger, scowl, grin, leer, wince, grimace and 97 more...
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movement (slow)
words describing slow action or movement
( open list, randomness, descriptive )
related:
http://www.wordnik.co...creep, crawl, plod, slouch, idle, lumber, tiptoe, bend, amble, mosey, saunter, loiter and 117 more...
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Words from Blood Meridian
visage, affray, scullery, miasma, mirth, purlieu, tacit, benighted, wickiup, corral, amble, accoutre and 210 more...
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AGRI - horse breeding
place bet, Przewalski's horse, piaffe, genus Claviceps, stadium jumping, draft animal, snaffle bit, noseband, equestrian sport, endurance riding, curb bit, dressage and 678 more...
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Words build meanings from origins( et...
These come from gamma meditation ,I think.
discursive, exogenous, machinations, purportedly, sumptuous, congruity, cantankerous, incongruous, festoon, hessian, ratiocinative, stratigraphic and 2046 more...
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On with their heads!
Words that make other words with the addition of one letter at the beginning. The resulting words are tagged "behead".
men, his, yes, any, iota, limb, aged, laid, land, lead, read, word and 327 more...
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mots justes
No true synonyms, no other word will do.
dysphemism, nyehre, conflate, onomatopœic, galumph, zeitgeist, mercenary, theomeny, git, snarky, sass, smarmy and 46 more...
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gre2
aberrant, aberration, aboveboard, abrasive, abstemious, acme, admonish, affable, affluent, alacrity, allegory, alleviate and 1847 more...
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VNCle
N stands for 'nasal', not 'n'
pimple, bungle, spindle, handle, amble, humble, simple, dimple, winkle, tinkle, single, dingle and 53 more...
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September Words-11849
During the month of September, post at least 10 new words to this list. Make sure you cite where you read the word (book/author/pg) and quote the context/sentence where you found it. If someone has...
psilocybin, raca, schema, myriad, copacetic, chastise, fractal, tourniquet, turncoat, vicarious, surreptitiously, clandestine and 34 more...
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Put your best pace forward
Locomotion, movement, mobility et al
jackrabbit start, frenetic pace, glacial pace, canter, traipse, mosey along, shuffle, trot, roaring start, slug-like, ploddingly, flit and 26 more...
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Words from books I've read
These are some words I didn't know when I read and now I want to know!
mortgage, fiddling, rage, kick, stroke, dodge, hunch, scratch, covetous, rank, trickle, budget and 179 more...
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GRE 3500
abase, abash, abate, aberrant, abeyance, abjure, ablution, abut, accede, accentuate, acerbity, acetic and 133 more...
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SAT Vocab
Redundant.
problematic, proclivity, prodigal, prodigious, prodigy, profane, profligate, profound, profusion, proliferation, prolific, prologue and 455 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for amble.

Sydney Newhall "ambled downstairs toward the press room." The Case for Christ by Lee Strobel pg 10 Oct 3, 2010