Link Centre Dictionary

roving

ro·ving

US/ˈɹoʊvɪŋ/ uncommon
noun (1) adjective (1)

noun

1.

travelling about without any clear destination

  • “she followed him in his wanderings and looked after him”
Synonyms

adjective

1.

(of groups of people) tending to travel and change settlements frequently

  • “a restless mobile society”
  • “the nomadic habits of the Bedouins”
  • “believed the profession of a peregrine typist would have a happy future”
  • “wandering tribes”
Synonyms
Similar

Origin

From rove (“sliver of wool or cotton”), late 17th century, possibly from obsolete Middle English rove(n) (“to draw out, pull off”), itself a dialectal variant of rive (“to tear, split”).

Phrases

  • roving bridge
  • roving editor
  • roving eye
  • roving plate
  • roving reel
  • roving reporter
  • roving sailor

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

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WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.