ROVING


Meaning of ROVING in English

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

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