random walk

noun

1. Statistics. the path taken by a point or quantity that moves in steps, where the direction of each step is determined randomly.
2. Physics. the tendency of particles in random motion to achieve a net displacement or to drift in a particular direction.

random walk

noun

1. a mathematical model used to describe physical processes, such as diffusion, in which a particle moves in straight-line steps of constant length but random direction
2. statistics a route consisting of successive and connected steps in which each step is chosen by a random mechanism uninfluenced by any previous step

Word History and Origins

Origin of random walk¹

First recorded in 1900–05

Example Sentences

Markets are, in the short run, a random walk, right up there with Brownian motion of molecules in a coffee cup.

From The Daily Beast