rover

¹

[ roh-ver ]

noun

1. a person who roves; wanderer.
2. Archery.
   1. a mark selected at random, as in a competition between two archers wandering over a specified area.
   2. one of a group of fixed marks at a long distance.
   3. an archer who shoots at such a mark.
3. Croquet. a ball that has been driven through all the arches and needs only to strike the last peg to be out of the game.
4. British.
   1. (at concerts or the like) a person who has a ticket for standing room only.
   2. a senior boy scout, 18 years of age or older.

rover

²

[ roh-ver ]

noun

1. a pirate.
2. Obsolete. a pirate ship.

rover

³

[ roh-ver ]

noun

1. a machine that twists, draws out, and cleans fibers prior to spinning; a roving machine.
2. a roving-machine operator.

Rover

⁴

[ roh-ver ]

noun

1. a familiar name for a dog.

rover

¹

/ ˈrəʊvə /

noun

1. a machine for roving wool, cotton, etc, or a person who operates such a machine

Rover

²

/ ˈrəʊvə /

noun

1. the former name for Venture Scout

rover

³

/ ˈrəʊvə /

noun

1. a person who roves; wanderer
2. archery a mark selected at random for use as a target
3. croquet a ball that has been driven through all the hoops but has not yet hit the winning peg
4. Australian rules football one of the three players in the ruck, usually smaller than the other two, selected for his agility in play
5. a small remote-controlled vehicle which roams over rough, esp extraterrestrial, terrain taking photographs, gathering rock and soil samples, etc

rover

⁴

/ ˈrəʊvə /

noun

1. a pirate or pirate ship

Word History and Origins

Origin of rover¹

First recorded in 1490–1500; rove ¹ + -er ¹

Origin of rover²

First recorded in 1350–1400 rover ²fordef 1 and in 1530–40 rover ²fordef 2; Middle English rover(e) “pirate,” from Middle Dutch rover(e) or Middle Low German rover “robber,” equivalent to roven “to rob” + -er; reave ¹; -er ¹( def )

Origin of rover³

First recorded in 1735–45; rove ³ + -er ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of rover¹

C18: from rove ²

Origin of rover²

C15: from rove ¹

Origin of rover³

C14: probably from Middle Dutch or Middle Low German, from roven to rob

Example Sentences

Rover engineers say they also hope to hear the wheels crunch as the rover drives.

From Science News

“We found the parking lot and hit it,” Chen said, avoiding dangerous terrain that was all but certain to doom the rover.

From Washington Post

Onboard systems tracked the surface for hazards during descent and steered the rover away from any threats.

From MIT Technology Review

Mars is far enough away from Earth that any radio signal we send the rover takes seven minutes to reach Mars.

From Vox

The voyage culminated in the skycrane gently lowering the rover to the surface before rocketing off to land at a safe distance.

From Ars Technica

However, several probes—most recently the Curiosity rover—have measured methane in the Martian atmosphere.

From The Daily Beast

Jeep steadily gave up a market it had created to rivals, particularly Toyota and Range Rover.

From The Daily Beast

But the runaway best example of the game is another cluster of British luxury vehicles—Range Rover, Land Rover and Jaguar.

From The Daily Beast

The prototype Land Rover was designed by a Jeep owner and built on a Jeep chassis.

From The Daily Beast

Knee deep in mud, sweat mixing with rain, they forced the Land Rover through the jungle.

From The Daily Beast

The great big dog is named Rover, the middle-sized one Brownie, and the little yellow curly one Wienerwurst.

From Project Gutenberg

But once when Hepzebiah fell in the pond after her doll, Rover swam in and caught her dress in his mouth and brought her to shore.

From Project Gutenberg

Under the big oak by the brook sat the three happy children with Rover, Brownie, and little yellow Wienerwurst.

From Project Gutenberg

Rover and Brownie and Wienerwurst lay curled up in their kennels, with their eyes tight shut.

From Project Gutenberg

A strange word for the old rover; but we all have a taste for home and the home-like, disguise it how we may.

From Project Gutenberg