miswalk

English

Etymology

From mis- +‎ walk.

Verb

miswalk (third-person singular simple present miswalks, present participle miswalking, simple past and past participle miswalked)

1. (transitive, intransitive, sometimes figurative) To walk along the wrong path.
   • 1863, Isaac Penington, The Works of Isaac Penington, page 31:

     For there is another spirit near man, whose nature, work, and delight is to cause man to misunderstand, and miswalk by the very scriptures; and will bring things as warmly and (as it were) clearly to him, as he can from scriptures, purposely to deceive and mislead him.

   • 1941, Cyril Harris, Richard Pryne: A Novel of the American Revolution, page 87:

     Sue withdrew to the kitchen, very much aware that she had committed a folly as bad or worse than miswalking a minuet.

   • 1991, Salem Quarter: The Quakers of Salem Quarterly Meeting of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends in Southern New Jersey from 1675-1990, page 214:

     This visit was probably about the concern of Fenwick's business and land titles, rather than any miswalking or violation of Discipline.

   • 2006, Adam Phillips, Sigmund Freud, The Penguin Freud Reader:

     The stroller who barely knows where he is going still keeps to the right path and stops at his destination without having miswalked. At least he gets there as a rule.