rover
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈɹəʊvə(ɹ)/
ipa: /ˈɹoʊvɚ/
rhymes: -əʊvə(ɹ)
Forms: form: rovers
Etymology: From Middle English roven (“to wander, to shoot an arrow randomly”) + -er.
Senses: examples: text: "By my hilt! no. There was little Robby Withstaff, and Andrew Salblaster, and Wat Alspaye, who broke the neck of the German. Mon Dieu! what men they were! Take them how you would, at long butts or short, hoyles, rounds, or rovers, better bowmen never twirled a shaft over their thumb-nails.
ref: 1890, Arthur Conan Doyle, chapter 22, in The White Company:
topics: archery
government
hobbies
lifestyle
martial-arts
military
politics
sports
war
glosses: A randomly selected target.
examples: text: But these islands, undisturbed for years, relapsed into their previous obscurity; and it is only recently that anything has been known concerning them. Once in the course of a half century, to be sure, some adventurous rover would break in upon their peaceful repose. and astonished at the unusual scene, would be almost tempted to claim the merit of a new discovery.
ref: 1846, Herman Melville, chapter 1, in Typee:
text: I must go down to the seas again, to the vagrant gypsy life,
To the gull's way and the whale's way, where the wind's like a whetted knife;
And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow-rover,
And quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick's over.
ref: 1902, John Masefield, Sea Fever:
glosses: One who roves, a wanderer, a nomad.
examples: text: She is a rover and dislikes any sort of ties, physical or emotional.
text: Give him the word, that I'm not a rover, and tell him that his lonely days are over.
ref: 1954, Pat Ballard, “Mr. Sandman”:
glosses: A vagabond, a tramp, an unsteady, restless person, one who by habit doesn't settle down or marry.
examples: September 19, 2005, Dave Lane, Mars Exploration Rover "OPPORTUNITY"
NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity is currently traveling southward over a pavement of outcrop dubbed the "Erebus Highway." "Erebus Crater," the rover's next target, lies less than 100 meters (328 feet) south of its current position
glosses: A vehicle for exploring extraterrestrial bodies.
synonyms: ROV
glosses: A remotely-operated vehicle.
qualifier: Australian Rules football
glosses: A position that is one of three of a team's followers, who follow the ball around the ground. Formerly a position for short players, rovers in professional leagues are frequently over 183 cm (6').
examples: text: I went to Coach Beamer and, because we had a lot of outside linebackers, ask him if I could play rover.
ref: 2011, Frank Beamer, Always a Hokie: Players, Coaches, and Fans Share Their Passion for Virginia Tech Football:
topics: American-football
ball-games
football
games
hobbies
lifestyle
sports
glosses: A defensive back position whose coverage responsibilities are a hybrid of those of a cornerback, safety and linebacker.
qualifier: croquet
glosses: A ball which has passed through all the hoops and would go out if it hit the stake but is continued in play; also, the player of such a ball.
topics: ball-games
baseball
games
hobbies
lifestyle
sports
glosses: The tenth defensive player in slow-pitch softball.
examples: text: All sorts, flights, rovers, and butt shafts.
ref: 1600 (first performance), Beniamin Ionson [i.e., Ben Jonson], “Cynthias Reuels, or The Fountayne of Selfe-Loue. […]”, in The Workes of Beniamin Ionson (First Folio), London: […] Will[iam] Stansby, published 1616, →OCLC:
glosses: A sort of arrow.
Derived terms: Mars rover
rover bellflower
ruck rover
Sallee rover
sea rover