traversing of considerable, often of vast, distances of
land or sea; _range_ commonly implies a purpose; as, cattle _range_ for
food; a hunting-dog _ranges_ a field for game. _Roam_ and _rove_ are
often purposeless, and always without definite aim. To _swerve_ or
_veer_ is to turn suddenly from a prescribed or previous course, and
often but momentarily; _veer_ is more capricious and repetitious; the
horse _swerves_ at the flash of a sword; the wind _veers_; the ship
_veers_ with the wind. To _stray_ is to go in a somewhat purposeless way
aside from the regular path or usual limits or abode, usually with
unfavorable implication; cattle _stray_ from their pastures; an author
_strays_ from his subject; one _strays_ from the path of virtue. _Stray_
is in most uses a lighter word than _wander_. _Ramble_, in its literal
use, is always a word of pleasant suggestion, but in its figurative use
always somewhat contemptuous; as, _rambling_ talk.

* * * * *

WAY.

Synonyms:

alley, course, lane, path, route,
avenue, driveway, pass, pathway, street,
bridle-path, highroad, passage, road, thoroughfare,
channel, highway, passageway, roadway, track.

Wherever there is room for one object to pass another there is a _way_.
A _road_ (originally a ride_way_) is a prepared _way_ for traveling with
horses or vehicles, always the latter unless the contrary is expressly
stated; a _way_ suitable to be traversed only by foot-passengers or by
animals is called a _path_, _bridle-path_, or _track_; as, the _roads_
in that country are mere _bridle-paths_. A _road_ may be private; a
_highway_ or _highroad_ is public, _highway_ being a specific name for a
_road_ legally set apart for the use of the public forever; a _highway_
may be over water as well as over land. A _route_ is a line of travel,
and may be over many _roads_. A _street_ is in some center of
habitation, as a city, town, or village; when it passes between rows of
dwellings the country _road_ becomes the village _street_. An _avenue_
is a long, broad, and imposing or principal street. _Track_ is a word of
wide signification; we speak of a goat-_track_ on a mountain-side, a
railroad-_track_, a race-_track_, the _track_ of a comet; on a traveled
_road_ the line worn by regular passing of hoofs and wheels in either
direction is called the _track_. A _passage_ is between any two objects
or lines o