English Explanatory Dictionary

rover

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. One who roves: a person or animal that travels around, especially over a wide area, without a fixed destination; a nomad, a roamer, a wanderer.
  2. A restless, unsteady person who does not settle down; specifically (historical), a flirtatious, unfaithful man; a rake.
  3. Also rover ticket: a person who has a ticket for an event, performance, etc., but no assigned seat, and so has to find a place to sit or stand.
  4. A small manned or unmanned land vehicle for exploring extraterrestrial bodies.
  5. A defensive back position whose coverage responsibilities are a combination of those of a cornerback, linebacker, and safety; also, a player playing this position.
  6. Chiefly in the plural in the form to shoot at rovers: a target randomly selected by an archer, usually for practice; also, a fixed target for practising long-distance shooting.
  7. A type of heavy arrow used for long-distance shooting.
  8. A position that is one of three of a team's followers making up a ruck, who follow the ball around the ground; also, a player playing this position, who is generally fast and skilful at receiving the ball, and formerly of shorter stature.
  9. In full rover ball: a ball which has passed through all the hoops and would peg out if it hit the stake but is continued in play to help fellow players or obstruct opposing players; also, the player of such a ball.
  10. Alternative letter-case form of Rover (“an early type of safety bicycle with a lower riding position than previous models”).
  11. A remotely operated underwater vehicle (ROUV) or remotely operated vehicle (ROV).
  12. Alternative letter-case form of Rover (“Short for Land Rover (“a type of road vehicle capable of being driven off-road”)”).
noun
  1. A pirate.
  2. A pirate ship.
  3. A plunderer, a raider, a robber.
noun
  1. One who forms cotton, wool, or other fibres into rovings (“long, narrow bundles of fibres”), specifically using a roving frame in a mill.
  2. A machine used to make rovings, especially a roving frame.
noun
  1. Someone connected with any number of teams called the Rovers, as a fan, player, coach etc.
  2. someone connected with Blackburn Rovers FC, as a fan, player, coach etc.
  3. A member of the senior section of the Boy Scout movement catering for men of age 18 upwards, now disbanded.
name
  1. A stereotypical given name for a dog.
  2. A former make of a British motorcar.

Pronunciation

/ˈɹəʊvə/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-rover.wav /ˈɹoʊvɚ/ /ˈɾovəɾ/ /ˈɾoːvə/

Word forms

rover rovers

Etymology

From rove (“to roam, wander; (archery) to shoot an arrow randomly”) + -er (suffix forming agent nouns from verbs). Rove is derived from Late Middle English *roven, rove (“to wander”); further etymology uncertain, possibly an English Midlands variant of Northern England raven, rave (“to rove, stray, wander”), possibly from Old Norse ráfa (“to roam, wander”) (although rove and rave are only attested much later), possibly from Proto-Germanic *wabōną, *wabjaną (“to cause to weave; to entangle, wrap”), from Proto-Indo-European *webʰ- (“to braid, weave”).

Synonyms

benedick cad drabber fuck boy fuck-boy fuckboy gallant goat he-bitch himbo homme fatal horndog loverboy loverman man ho man whore man-whore manslut manwhore muttonmonger philanderer pimp playboy player rakehell rake rip rolling stone rover salty dog satyriasist satyromaniac satyr shag bandit sleaze smell-smock striker stringer stud swordsman tart tomcat whoremonger adulterer bed-hopper carpetmonger chamberer debauchee debaucher fornicator lecher lewdster libertine hood rat rantipole rizzler roué seducer voluptuary wanton

Derived words

Land Rover lunar rover Mars rover rover ball rover bellflower Rover Scout rover ticket ruck rover Sallee rover salt-rover sea rover rovery
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