ROVE • FREE TRANSLATOR.ORG • Definition of Rove

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/roʊv/ Listen

verb

Rove v. t.

1.

To draw through an eye or aperture.

2.

To draw out into flakes; to card, as wool.

3.

To twist slightly; to bring together, as slivers of wool or cotton, and twist slightly before spinning.

Rove v. t.

1.

To wander over or through. "Roving the field, I chanced A goodly tree far distant to behold."

2.

To plow into ridges by turning the earth of two furrows together.

Rove v. i. (past & past part. roved; pres. part. roving)

1.

To practice robbery on the seas; to wander about on the seas in piracy. (Obs.)

2.

Hence, to wander; to ramble; to rauge; to go, move, or pass without certain direction in any manner, by sailing, walking, riding, flying, or otherwise. "For who has power to walk has power to rove."

3.

(Archery) To shoot at rovers; hence, to shoot at an angle of elevation, not at point-blank (rovers usually being beyond the point-blank range). "Fair Venus' son, that with thy cruel dart At that good knight so cunningly didst rove."

Synonyms: To wander; roam; range; ramble stroll.

noun

Rove n.

1.

A copper washer upon which the end of a nail is clinched in boat building.

2.

A roll or sliver of wool or cotton drawn out and slighty twisted, preparatory to further process; a roving.

Rove n. The act of wandering; a ramble. "In thy nocturnal rove one moment halt."

Rove beetle (Zool.), any one of numerous species of beetles of the family Staphylinidae, having short elytra beneath which the wings are folded transversely. They are rapid runners, and seldom fly.

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Etymology of 'Rove'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Rove" Quotes from Famous Books

... the thorn; When Satan comes, present his highness this, Which I have here, and say:—You will not miss To make it flat, and not its curl retain On which she gave him, what with little pain She drew from covert of the Cyprian grove, The fairy labyrinth where pleasures rove, Which formerly a duke so precious thought; To raise a knightly order thence he sought, Illustrious institution, noble plan, More filled with ...

— The Tales and Novels, Complete • Jean de La Fontaine

... effort. "I'll sit here. I haven't much time left to stay with people, very little time." He paused, let his eyes rove about the entire group, then with a pale smile, continued: "I feel good when I'm with you. I look at you, and think, 'Maybe you will avenge the wrongs of all who were robbed, of all the people destroyed because ...

— Mother • Maxim Gorky

... before he could shape the conversation to a point where his hearer might perchance express a desire to see its wonders, Still Bill Stover thrust his head cautiously through the door to the bunk-house, and allowed an admiring eye to rove over the transformation. ...

— Going Some • Rex Beach

... selfish than mine, for he had sacrificed his life uselessly for her that she might—be mine! Mine! I thought. And who was I that she should love me instead of him? All the years I had known him I had known but little of him. God only knows the hearts of these men who rove or drift, who, anchorless and rudderless, beat upon the ragged reels of life till the breath leaves them and they pass through the mystic channel into the serene harbor of eternity. A sudden wave of dissatisfaction swept over ...

— Arms and the Woman • Harold MacGrath

... sweet talk seemed frivolous and inane. Her soft hold upon Mainwaring loosened. He ceased to consult her upon business; he began to repine that the partner of his lot could have little sympathy with his dreams. More often and more bitterly now did his discontented glance, in his way homeward, rove to the rooftops of the rural member for the town; more eagerly did he read the parliamentary debates; more heavily did he sigh at the thought of eloquence denied a vent, and ambition delayed ...

— Lucretia, Complete • Edward Bulwer-Lytton

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