Library / English Dictionary

ROVE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Move about aimlessly or without any destination, often in search of food or employment

Example:

They rolled from town to town

Synonyms:

cast; drift; ramble; range; roam; roll; rove; stray; swan; tramp; vagabond; wander

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Hypernyms (to "rove" is one way to...):

go; locomote; move; travel (change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically)

Verb group:

drift; err; stray (wander from a direct course or at random)

wander (go via an indirect route or at no set pace)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "rove"):

maunder (wander aimlessly)

gad; gallivant; jazz around (wander aimlessly in search of pleasure)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Something is ----ing PP
Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s PP

Sentence examples:

They rove the countryside

They rove in the countryside

Derivation:

roving (travelling about without any clear destination)

Credits

 Context examples: 

You should not be roving about now; it looks very ill.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

But she did not get it, for though he joined her and answered all her questions freely, she could only learn that he had roved about the Continent and been to Greece.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

I love an ash arrow pierced with cornel-wood for a roving shaft.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Ruth's eyes roved to him frequently to see how he was getting on, and she was surprised and gladdened by the ease with which he got acquainted with her cousins.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

So she roved about by herself, and looked at all the rooms and chambers, till at last she came to an old tower, to which there was a narrow staircase ending with a little door.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

Now he studied the sea to windward for signs of the wind slackening or freshening, now the Macedonia; and again, his eyes roved over every sail, and he gave commands to slack a sheet here a trifle, to come in on one there a trifle, till he was drawing out of the Ghost the last bit of speed she possessed.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

Perrault scaled it by a miracle, while François prayed for just that miracle; and with every thong and sled lashing and the last bit of harness rove into a long rope, the dogs were hoisted, one by one, to the cliff crest.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

With anxiety I watched his eye rove over the gay stores: he fixed on a rich silk of the most brilliant amethyst dye, and a superb pink satin.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

The little girls had a private tea party, and Ted roved among the edibles at his own sweet will.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

As lord of the marches and guardian of an exposed country-side, there was little rest for him even in times of so-called peace, and his whole life was spent in raids and outfalls upon the Brabanters, late-comers, flayers, free companions, and roving archers who wandered over his province.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)