rove

¹

[ rohv ]

verb (used without object)

, roved, rov·ing.

1. to wander about without definite destination; move hither and thither at random, especially over a wide area.

   Synonyms: stray, amble, stroll

verb (used with object)

, roved, rov·ing.

1. to wander over or through; traverse:

   to rove the woods.

noun

1. an act or instance of roving.

rove

²

[ rohv ]

verb

1. a simple past tense and past participle of reeve ².

rove

³

[ rohv ]

verb (used with object)

, roved, rov·ing.

1. to form (slivers of wool, cotton, etc.) into slightly twisted strands in a preparatory process of spinning.
2. to draw fibers or the like through an eye or other small opening.
3. to attenuate, compress, and twist slightly in carding.

noun

1. British. roving ².

rove

¹

/ rəʊv /

verb

1. a past tense and past participle of reeve 2

rove

²

/ rəʊv /

verb

1. to wander about (a place) with no fixed direction; roam
2. intr (of the eyes) to look around; wander
3. have a roving eye
   to show a widespread amorous interest in the opposite sex
4. intr Australian rules football to play as a rover

noun

1. the act of roving

rove

³

/ rəʊv /

verb

1. tr to pull out and twist (fibres of wool, cotton, etc) lightly, as before spinning or in carding

noun

1. wool, cotton, etc, thus prepared

rove

⁴

/ rəʊv /

noun

1. a metal plate through which a rivet is passed and then clenched over

Word History and Origins

Origin of rove¹

First recorded in 1490–1500; originally, “to shoot at a random target”; perhaps from Scandinavian; compare Old Norse rāfa “to stray”; but compare also Old French raver “to roam”

Origin of rove²

First recorded in 1690–1700; of obscure origin

Word History and Origins

Origin of rove¹

C15 roven (in archery) to shoot at a target chosen at random (C16: to wander, stray), from Scandinavian; compare Icelandic rāfa to wander

Origin of rove²

C18: of obscure origin

Origin of rove³

C15: from Scandinavian; compare Icelandic ro

Synonym Study

See roam.

Example Sentences

Karl Rove doodled on his stupid whiteboard and talked about what viewers could glean from the numbers they already had.

From Slate

Rove, of course, was famously called out on-air by then-Fox anchor Megyn Kelly on election night 2012 for being grossly off with his read on the outcome of that year’s election.

From Slate

It’s very rare—I can’t imagine one instance where we’ve said, where we’ve looked at a number and seen 90 percent of the vote in, or 85 percent of the vote in, and that turned out to be grossly off,” Rove said right around 12:30 a.m.

From Slate

New York Times Magazine published an article in 2004 by reporter Ron Suskind who interviewed a senior administration aide, presumed to be Karl Rove, also known as Bush's Brain:

From Salon

Gov. Gavin Newsom last week signed AB 1889, which directs local leaders to identify connectivity areas and then “avoid, minimize or mitigate” impacts to them so animals can rove unimpeded to find food, shelter and mates.

From Los Angeles Times