I. noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English, from gerund of roven to shoot at random, wander — more at rove
1. : an act or instance of shooting at random archery targets and especially at natural targets in fields or woodlands
2. : an act or instance of roaming
every year this animal's rovings are restricted — Washington Irving
found dial roving common in the early parts of a program — George Fisk
II. adjective
Etymology: from present participle of rove (III)
1. obsolete : based on guesswork : conjectural
2.
a. : traversing a random course : nomadic , wandering
a roving band of gypsies
a roving vixen wanting cubs — John Masefield
b. : traversing an assigned route or capable of being shifted from place to place : mobile
roving judge
roving reporter
serving as a roving police force for … the Territory of Arizona — Ross Santee
c. : of a general nature : unrestricted as to location or area of concern
roving envoy
roving assignment
d. : discursive , rambling
a roving wit
unrelated subjects that happen to strike a roving fancy — Dorothy Sayers
3. : inclined to travel or stray : peripatetic , roaming
a large and roving cast subsidiary to the main characters — Sylvia Berkman
alas for poor Madame, he had a roving eye — Henry S. Jones
III. noun
( -s )
Etymology: from gerund of rove (VII)
1.
a. : a slightly twisted roll or strand of textile fibers
b. : material in an intermediate stage between sliver and yarn
2. : the final process of reducing and drawing out sliver preliminary to spinning — compare slubbing