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Webster 1913 Edition

Rove

Rove

(rōv)
,
Verb.
T.
[perhaps fr. or akin to
reeve
.]
1.
To draw through an eye or aperture.
2.
To draw out into flakes; to card, as wool.
Jamieson.
3.
To twist slightly; to bring together, as slivers of wool or cotton, and twist slightly before spinning.

Rove

(rōv)
,
Noun.
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

,
Verb.
I.
[
imp. & p. p.
Roved
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Roving
.]
[Cf. D.
rooven
to rob; akin to E.
reave
. See
Reave
,
Rob
.]
1.
To practice robbery on the seas; to wander about on the seas in piracy.
[Obs.]
Hakluyt.
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
.
Arbuthnot.
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
.
Spenser.
Syn. – To wander; roam; range; ramble stroll.

Rove

,
Verb.
T.
1.
To wander over or through.
Roving
the field, I chanced
A goodly tree far distant to behold.
milton.
2.
To plow into ridges by turning the earth of two furrows together.

Rove

,
Noun.
The act of wandering; a ramble.
In thy nocturnal
rove
one moment halt.
Young.
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.

Webster 1828 Edition

Rove

ROVE

,
Verb.
I.
[L. rapio.]
To wander; to ramble; to range; to go, move or pass without certain direction in any manner, by walking, riding, flying or otherwise.
For who has power to walk, has power to rove.

ROVE

,
Verb.
T.
To wander over; as roving a field; roving the town. This is an elliptical form of expression, for roving over, through or about the town.

ROVE

,
Verb.
T.
To draw a thread, string or cord through an eye or aperture.

Definition 2024

rove

rove

See also: rõve

English

Verb

rove ‎(third-person singular simple present roves, present participle roving, simple past and past participle roved)

  1. (obsolete, intransitive) To shoot with arrows (at).
    • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene I.3:
      And thou […] that with thy cruell dart / At that good knight so cunningly didst roue [...].
  2. (intransitive) To roam, or wander about at random, especially over a wide area.
    • 1912: Edgar Rice Burroughs, Tarzan of the Apes, Chapter 1
      Now that he was in his prime, there was no simian in all the mighty forest through which he roved that dared contest his right to rule, nor did the other and larger animals molest him.
  3. (transitive) To roam or wander through.
    • Milton
      Roving the field, I chanced / A goodly tree far distant to behold.
  4. (transitive) To card wool or other fibres.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Jamieson to this entry?)
  5. To twist slightly; to bring together, as slivers of wool or cotton, and twist slightly before spinning.
  6. To draw through an eye or aperture.
  7. To plough into ridges by turning the earth of two furrows together.
  8. To practice robbery on the seas; to voyage about on the seas as a pirate.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Hakluyt to this entry?)
Translations
Derived terms
Related terms

Noun

rove ‎(plural roves)

  1. A copper washer upon which the end of a nail is clinched in boatbuilding.
  2. A roll or sliver of wool or cotton drawn out and lightly twisted, preparatory to further processing; a roving.
  3. The act of wandering; a ramble.
    • Young
      In thy nocturnal rove one moment halt.

Etymology 2

Inflected forms.

Verb

rove

  1. simple past tense of rive

Anagrams

Dutch

Pronunciation

Verb

rove

  1. (archaic) singular present subjunctive of roven

Anagrams

Finnish

Noun

rove

  1. Small container made of birch bark.

Declension

Inflection of rove (Kotus type 48/hame, p-v gradation)
nominative rove ropeet
genitive ropeen ropeiden
ropeitten
partitive rovetta ropeita
illative ropeeseen ropeisiin
ropeihin
singular plural
nominative rove ropeet
accusative nom. rove ropeet
gen. ropeen
genitive ropeen ropeiden
ropeitten
partitive rovetta ropeita
inessive ropeessa ropeissa
elative ropeesta ropeista
illative ropeeseen ropeisiin
ropeihin
adessive ropeella ropeilla
ablative ropeelta ropeilta
allative ropeelle ropeille
essive ropeena ropeina
translative ropeeksi ropeiksi
instructive — ropein
abessive ropeetta ropeitta
comitative — ropeineen

Synonyms

Etymology

Probably from Middle English *roven, a Midlands variant of Northern Middle English raven ‎(“to wander”), from Old Norse ráfa ‎(“to rove; stray about”). Cognate with Icelandic ráfa ‎(“to wander”), Scots rave ‎(“to wander; stray; roam”).

Pronunciation

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