ROVE


Meaning of ROVE in English

I.

Etymology: Middle English roof

past of rive

II. ˈrōv noun

( -s )

Etymology: Middle English rewe, rufe, rove, from Old Norse rō

1. or roove ˈrüv : burr 3 b

2. : the bight of a rope sling that receives the hook

III. verb

( -ed/-ing/-s )

Etymology: Middle English roven

intransitive verb

1. : to shoot at rovers in archery

2.

a. : to move aimlessly : roam , stray

criminals … roving about freely without either arrest or custodial restraint — H.E.Barnes

members … roved restlessly from one committee meeting to another — Allan Nevins

b. : to follow a random course : ramble , wander

at first he did not follow her, his thoughts had roved so far — Ellen Glasgow

feebly his glance roved over the figures by the bed — Mary Austin

3. obsolete

a. : to deviate from the point

from that mark how far they rove — John Milton

b. : to take random aim

c. : guess

4. archaic : to troll with live bait

rove for a perch with a minnow — Izaak Walton

5. dialect Britain : to be light-headed or delirious : rave

transitive verb

: to traverse aimlessly : wander through or over : roam

permit their progeny … to rove the forest — S.H.Adams

letting her eyes rove the room as if she were planning … its decoration — Jean Stafford

saw the searchlights roving the sky — Howard Hunt

IV. noun

( -s )

: an act or instance of wandering

a sidelong rove of the eye — A.L.Kroeber

V. noun

( -s )

Etymology: modification of Spanish & Portuguese arroba

obsolete : arroba

VI.

past of reeve

VII. ˈrōv transitive verb

( -ed/-ing/-s )

Etymology: origin unknown

: to join (textile fibers) with a slight twist and draw out into roving

VIII. noun

( -s )

Etymology: origin unknown

: roving III 1

Webster's New International English Dictionary.      Новый международный словарь английского языка Webster.