hovern.2
/ˈhɒvə/, /ˈhʌvə/, U.S. /ˈhəvər/ 1.
a. An act of hovering, as of a bird or other winged creature. Also, a state of hovering.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > support > absence of support > [noun] > holding or being held up without support > in the air
hovering1727
hover1893
1893 G. D. Leslie Lett. to Marco xvi. 105 A circular sort of hover.
a1899 Mod. Newspaper The hover of a hawk's wing is dimly sighted far away upon the horizon.
1961 Hovering Craft & Hydrofoil Oct. 32/2 Floatation and sea-keeping capability while floating and during transition from hover to high forward speed.
1962 Air-Cushion Vehicles July 16 The skirts have withstood the early trials well, most of the wear having occurred during tethered hovers on hard standing.
1967 B. W. McCormick Aerodynamics of V/Stol Flight v. 106 The helicopter rotor in hover or in vertical climb is relatively easy to analyze.
1969 I. Kemp Brit. G.I. in Vietnam iii. 61 Major Bracken eased back on the cyclic..and our speed dropped until we were almost in a hover.
1971 Physics Bull. Nov. 655/3 With careful design the tilting rotor propeller can be efficient in both hover and cruise.
b. A hovering host (of birds).
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > flight > [noun] > bird that flies > group of flying birds
flighta1325
volley1601
hover1842
rush1859
1842 J. Wilson Recreations Christopher North III. 337 A mile-square hover of crows darkens air and earth.
2. The action or condition of remaining in suspense.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > belief > uncertainty, doubt, hesitation > state of uncertainty, suspense > [noun]
suspensec1440
hover1513
dispense1562
depending1616
suspension1635
hanging-up1638
cliff-hanging1945
1513 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid xii. xiv. 129 Abydand lang in hovir quhat he suld do.
c1565 R. Lindsay Hist. & Cron. Scotl. (1728) 537 (Jam.) They stood in hover, and tuik consultatioun quhat was best to be done.
1727 E. Erskine Serm. in Wks. (1871) I. 295 They are in a hover and suspense.
1883 E. Pennell-Elmhirst Cream Leics. 136 Without even a hover of hesitation.
3. Any overhanging stone or bank under which a fish can hide; also any kind of overhanging shelter, especially a hollow in the side of a hedge; a shelter used in the brooding of chickens. (F. T. Elworthy W. Somerset Word-bk.) Chiefly southern dialect.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > by habitat > habitat > [noun] > dwelling place or shelter
houseOE
denOE
holdc1275
lying-placea1382
coucha1398
homea1398
logis1477
starting-hole1530
cabbage1567
lodge1567
lair1575
lay1590
squat1590
hover1602
denning1622
start-holea1641
bed1694
niche1725
shed1821
lying1834
basking-hole1856
lie1869
homesite1882
holt1890
lying-ground1895
the world > animals > fish > [noun] > defined by habitat > that frequents rocks > stone or bank under which fish can hide
hover1602
the world > action or operation > safety > protection or defence > refuge or shelter > [noun] > shelter > a shelter > of specific kind
hover1602
cleit1825
bender1934
palapa1957
the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > keeping birds > poultry-keeping > [noun] > enclosure for poultry > chicken-coop
mewc1387
hen coop1423
coop1530
hen cub1583
chicken coop1687
chicken house1750
chicken cavie?a1786
hen-rip1788
par1866
hover1907
1602 R. Carew Surv. Cornwall ii. f. 105v Boughs of trees..were cast in thither, to serue as a houer for the fish.
1858 E. W. L. Davies in Dartmoor Days (1863) 137 Every holt and hover which could harbour a fox or an otter.
1863 C. Kingsley Water-babies iii. 116 Dark hovers under swirling banks, from which great trout rushed out.
1886 R. C. Leslie Sea-painter's Log 207 The confidence of the trout in the security of his haunt or hover.
1907 Elem. Sch. Teacher Mar. 410 A hover which was made of felt was hung in the brooder.
1936 Nature 3 Oct. 583/1 The merits of the various systems of hovers and battery brooders are discussed.
4. ‘A floating island, or bed of reeds’ ( Eng. Dial. Dict.). Chiefly Norfolk dialect.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > land > land mass > island > [noun] > other
desert island1607
holt1611
sister isle1612
atoll1625
floating island1638
sister island1659
tropical island1769
artificial island1775
home island1806
wooden island1808
fire-isle1817
coral-island1831
thrum cap1832
branch-island1834
island-continent1872
off-island1880
hover1892
phosphate island1909
1892 P. H. Emerson Son of Fens xiv. 120 ‘Have you got enough damming boards for another dam?’ ‘Yes... We shan't want many; there's a hover there.’
1893 H. T. Cozens-Hardy Broad Norfolk (Eastern Daily Press) 77 Hover, a floating island.
1955 Times 3 Aug. 10/2 Now the lesser bulrush which grows on the ‘hover’ (excellent word to denote a table of floating vegetation) round the edge of the open water is all a-quiver.
Compounds
hover-fly n. a dipterous insect of the order Bombyliidæ, which hovers over flowers without settling.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > order Diptera or flies > [noun] > suborder Brachycera > member of family Bombyiidae
bee-fly1852
hover-flya1887
a1887 R. Jefferies Field & Hedgerow (1889) 14 Countless..hosts of the yellow-barred hover-flies come to them.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1899; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
hoveradj.n.1
/ˈhɒvə/, U.S. /ˈhəvər/ dialect.
A. adj.
Of loose texture or composition; in Kent, said of hops loosely packed.
ΚΠ
1669 J. Worlidge Systema Agriculturæ (1681) 327 Hover-ground, Light-ground.
1674 J. Ray S. & E. Countrey Words in Coll. Eng. Words 69 Hover ground: i. e. light ground.
1703 R. Neve City & Countrey Purchaser 189 To draw all the loose and hover Sand..into the empty part of the Mold.
1848 Rutley in Jrnl. Royal Agric. Soc. 9 ii. 547 The hops were generally small, loose, and hover.
1887 W. D. Parish & W. F. Shaw Dict. Kentish Dial. Hover, light; puffy; raised; shivery; hunched-up. Hence, poorly, unwell.
B. n.1
Light loose soil.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > constitution of matter > lack of density > [adjective] > loose texture
loosec1374
solutec1440
dissolute1607
lax1615
fuzzy1616
incompact1616
waterish1665
incompacted1680
uncompact1705
laxy1716
unconsolidated1802
hover1851
unpacked1855
uncompacted1863
the world > the earth > structure of the earth > constituent materials > earth or soil > kind of earth or soil > [noun] > light or loose soil
mouldeOE
crumb1807
hover1851
1851 Jrnl. Royal Agric. Soc. 12 ii. 487 Black light mould (provincially black hover).
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1899; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
hoverv.1
/ˈhɒvə/, /ˈhʌvə/, U.S. /ˈhəvər/ I. intransitive.
1.
a. Of a winged creature: To hang or remain suspended in the air over or about a particular spot, as by flapping the wings (to which action the word is sometimes restricted by naturalists: cf. 4), esp. when preparing to dart or swoop in some direction. Also with indirect passive.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > by habits or actions > habits and actions > [verb (intransitive)] > hang suspended in air
hoverc1400
c1400 Mandeville's Trav. (Roxb.) xxxiv. 153 Fewles..commez þider and houers abouue þam.
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 588/1 I hover, I flyker..This hauke hovereth to longe above, she is nat disposed to stoupe.
1585 J. Stell in T. Washington tr. N. de Nicolay Nauigations Turkie Ep. Ded. ⁋ij b At one time or other it is meete to hoover with the winges.
1609 W. Shakespeare Louers Complaint in Sonnets sig. L2v The tempter..like a Cherubin above them houerd [rhyme cover'd].
1665 R. Boyle Occas. Refl. iv. ii. sig. Aa4v Larks..hovering and singing a while over our Heads.
1727 D. Defoe Compl. Eng. Tradesman II. ii. v. 163 Like Bees unhiv'd they hover about.
1846 E. Bulwer-Lytton Lucretia I. i. i. 45 The dragon-fly darted and hovered in the air.
1871 B. Taylor tr. J. W. von Goethe Faust I. xxi. 218 Nearer hover Jay and screech-owl, and the plover.
1885 R. L. Stevenson & F. Stevenson Dynamiter 171 Rocky islets, hovered about by an innumerable cloud of sea-fowl.
1894 J. Le Conte in Pop. Sci. Monthly Apr. 746 Hovering..always refers to a maintenance of a body in one position in the air..—either by vigorous flapping of the wings, or else..with no motion of the wings at all. I shall ..confine the term hovering to the former.
b. Said of clouds, etc., that float or remain suspended in air or on water.
ΘΠ
the world > space > relative position > support > absence of support > be unsupported [verb (intransitive)] > be held up without support
hangc1175
hovec1220
hover1578
to hang on the trip1681
poise1818
dream1828
balance1833
pendulize1869
1578 J. Banister Hist. Man i. f. 29v Nature caused the same Processe of the viij. bone, to hang, and houer inwardly lyke a seeled vawlte.
1600 J. Pory tr. J. Leo Africanus Geogr. Hist. Afr. i. 3 Cloudes alwaies hovering about the tops thereof.
1664 H. Power Exper. Philos. iii. 163 The smallest Mote or Atom, which we see to hover and play in the Sun's beams.
1718 Free-thinker No. 16. 2 The Bowl would stop in the Current, and hover over the Dead Body.
a1818 M. G. Lewis Jrnl. W. India Proprietor (1834) 297 The waves..hovering for a while over the ship, and then coming down upon us.
1877 W. Black Green Pastures xl Large schooners..hovering in the white light.
c. Of a helicopter or other aircraft: to remain stationary in the air, relative to the ground.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > air or space travel > specific movements or positions of aircraft > fly [verb (intransitive)] > hover
hover1892
1892 Railroad & Engin. Jrnl. Nov. 508/2 With 60 turns of the rubber the apparatus would just hold its own—i.e., hover in the same spot, against a wind of 9 ft. per second.
1926 J. L. Pritchard Bk. Aeroplane ix. 177 It had distinct possibilities of achieving what the helicopter sets out to achieve, rising, descending vertically in still air and hovering.
1935 P. H. Sumner Aircraft ii. 63 To be of any practical use the helicopter aircraft must be capable of forward motion in addition to rising vertically and hovering.
1972 Daily Tel. 3 July 2 (caption) A Sea King helicopter..hovering over Rockall in the Atlantic.
d. Of a hovercraft: to be supported on its air-cushion, esp. while stationary; also transferred, to travel in a hovercraft.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > [verb (intransitive)] > in specific type of craft
to barge it1599
boat?1630
canoe1732
shallop1737
raft1741
scow1749
steam1832
yacht1836
screw1840
steamer1866
gondole1874
kayak1875
sail1898
tramp1899
motor-boat1903
barge1909
hover1962
power1964
motor1968
jet-ski1978
society > travel > travel by water > action or motion of vessel > [verb (intransitive)] > make progress > on cushion of air
hover1962
1962 Hovering Craft & Hydrofoil Aug.–Sept. 20/1 Hovering at speeds below 10 knots..over water, the depression in the water surface beneath the craft gives a measure of ‘keel’ effect.
1962 Air-Cushion Vehicles Oct. 81/2 The rudder, however, is ineffective at low speeds or while hovering.
1967 Jane's Surface Skimmer Syst. 1967–8 31/2 Echo sounding transducers..will remain immersed whether the craft is ‘hovering’ or underway.
1968 Nature 10 Aug. 549/1 (heading) Hover over from Dover.
1970 Motoring Which? July 111/2 A control stick adjusted the airflow from the fan, to make the craft hover or go forwards.
2. transferred and figurative. To keep hanging or lingering about (a person or place), to wait near at hand, move to and fro near or around, as if waiting to land or alight; also said of things intangible (where the idea is sometimes nearer to 1).
ΘΠ
the world > space > distance > nearness > be near [verb (intransitive)] > remain in the vicinity
hover1591
the world > time > a suitable time or opportunity > untimeliness > delay or postponement > delay [verb (intransitive)] > on one's way or linger
hovec1220
abide1487
linger1530
hover1591
hanker1601
to linger on1805
hang1830
1591 H. Savile tr. Tacitus Ende of Nero: Fower Bks. Hist. ii. 60 The fleete..lay houering and ready to assaile the prouince of Narbon.
1602 J. Marston Hist. Antonio & Mellida iv. sig. F4 His spirit houers in Piero's Court.
1686 N. Luttrell Diary in Brief Hist. Relation State Affairs (1857) I. 376 The French..lie hovering before Cadiz, Gibralter, and those parts.
1748 B. Robins & R. Walter Voy. round World by Anson ii. viii. 222 We were obliged to keep hovering about the Island.
a1754 J. MacLaurin Serm. & Ess. (1755) 77 Vengeance was hovering over their guilty heads.
1803 J. Porter Thaddeus of Warsaw (1831) viii. 75 His thoughts continually hovered about his mother.
1838 C. Thirlwall Hist. Greece (new ed.) III. 297 Leaving a small part of their force to hover on the rear of the Greeks.
1863 ‘G. Eliot’ Romola II. xxii. 275 Pestilence was hovering in the track of famine.
3. † a. To remain waiting; to tarry, linger; to hesitate before taking action. Obsolete.
ΘΠ
the world > time > a suitable time or opportunity > untimeliness > delay or postponement > delay [verb (intransitive)]
geleOE
studegieOE
abideOE
to do in or a (= on) fristc1175
dwellc1175
demurc1230
targec1250
dretcha1325
tarrya1375
sojourn1377
defer1382
letc1385
hinderc1386
blina1400
delay?a1400
honea1400
litea1400
overbidea1400
prolongc1425
supersede1433
hoverc1440
tarrowc1480
sunyie1488
stay?a1500
sleep1519
slack1530
protract1540
linger1548
procrastinate1548
slackc1560
slug1565
jauk1568
temporize1579
detract1584
longering1587
sit1591
prorogue1593
to time it out1613
to lie out1640
crastinate1656
taigle17..
to hang fire1782
to hold off1790
to hang it on1819
prevaricate1854
to lie over1856
to tread water1942
to drag one's feet1946
c1440 York Myst. ix. 252 A twelmo[n]the bott xij weke Have we be houerand here.
c1440 York Myst. xi. 352 It may not helpe to hover na hone.
1572 (a1500) Taill of Rauf Coilȝear (1882) 417 He huit and he houerit quhill midmorne and mair.
1574 J. Baret Aluearie H 624 To houer ouer a thing to bie it, emptioni imminere.
b. To continue in a state of suspense or indecision; to waver as in an indeterminate or irresolute state; hence, to hang or remain on the verge of (a condition, etc.).
ΘΠ
the mind > will > decision > irresolution or vacillation > be irresolute or vacillate [verb (intransitive)]
haltc825
flecchec1300
waverc1315
flickerc1325
wag1387
swervea1400
floghter1521
stacker1526
to be of (occasionally in) many (also divers) minds1530
wave1532
stagger1533
to hang in the wind1536
to waver as, like, with the wind1548
mammer1554
sway1563
dodge1568
erch1584
suspend1585
float1598
swag1608
hoverc1620
hesitate1623
vacillate1623
fluctuate1634
demur1641
balance1656
to be at shall I, shall I (not)1674
to stand shall I, shall I1674
to go shill-I shall-I1700
to stand at shilly-shally1700
to act, to keep (upon), the volanta1734
whiffle1737
dilly-dally1740
to be in (also of, occasionally on) two minds (also in twenty minds, in (also of) several minds, etc.)1751
oscillate1771
shilly-shally1782
dacker1817
librate1822
humdrum1825
swing1833
(to stand or sit) on or upon the fence1848
to back and fill1854
haver1866
wobble1867
shaffle1873
dicker1879
to be on the weigh-scales1886
waffle1894
to think twice1898
to teeter on the brink1902
dither1908
vagulate1918
pern1920
c1620 A. Hume Of Orthogr. Britan Tongue (1870) Ded. 2 Quhil I thus hovered betueen hope and despare.
1651 J. Cleveland Poems (Wing C4684) 3 When Bodies whine, and victory hovers 'Twixt the equal fluttering Lovers.
1712 J. Addison Spectator No. 441. ¶9 When the Soul is hovering in the last Moments of its Dissolution.
1872 W. Black Strange Adventures Phaeton iii He even hovered on the verge of rudeness.
1874 L. Morris Organ-boy 75 Sweet music hovering 'Twixt pain and 'twixt pleasure.
1899 N.E.D. at Hover Mod. A mind hovering on the verge of madness.
II. transitive.† 4. Of a bird, etc.: To flap or flutter (the wings) so as to maintain itself in the air. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > flight > [verb (transitive)] > flap the wings
clapc1400
hover1605
flab?1785
flaff1827
waff1834
1605 J. Sylvester tr. G. de S. Du Bartas Deuine Weekes & Wks. i. v. 188 Somtimes her wings she houers.
1687 A. Behn Luckey Chance i. i. 5 Some blest Sun-Shine to warm me..and make me hover my flagging Wings.
5. To brood over; to cover (the young) with wings and body: cf. hovering n. 2.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > egg > [verb (transitive)] > brood over
hove1399
broodc1440
cover1607
hurkle1640
hover1789
1789 G. White Let. in Nat. Hist. Selborne 212 Capons..hover chickens like hens.
1895 in Daily News 23 July 6/1 Cholera, that foe we have so often to face in India, hovered the ridge.
6. To maintain in a hovering state.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > air or space travel > action of flying (in) aircraft > specific flying operations or procedures > [verb (transitive)] > cause aircraft to move in specific manner
bank1909
side-slip1911
slip1911
overbank1915
spin1918
yaw1920
hover1967
1967 B. W. McCormick Aerodynamics of V/Stol Flight v. 162 The gross weight that can be hovered at the power available is found by correcting the thrust for download..and for overlap.
1969 Aeroplane LXXIII. 708/2 In the case of the rescue system preferred by the USA Coast Guard..the helicopter is hovered in contact with the water and a working platform is extended from the craft.
Draft additions June 2015
intransitive. Computing. Usually with over. To position the mouse pointer over a specific part of a screen display in order to activate a program response (typically the appearance of additional information or options) without actually clicking on the element or link.
ΚΠ
1986 Winnipeg Free Press 6 Apr. 20/5 The cursor moved to hover over the upper right-hand area of the globe, where the shapes of the North American continent and part of South America were depicted.
1993 InfoWorld (Nexis) 31 May 99 As your mouse cursor hovers over the board image, a help area displays text describing the underlying component's name and function.
2005 N.Y. Times (National ed.) 10 Feb. b5/1 [He] wants to turn every word of every online text into a hyperword... Anytime you hover over a word, you are invited to Google it or use a dictionary.
2014 T. D. Hedengren Smashing WordPress (ed. 4) xi. 265 After all, there is no way to hover on a touchscreen because it is either ‘press’..or not.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1899; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
hoverv.2
/ˈhɒvə/, U.S. /ˈhəvər/ dialect. (See quots.)
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > cultivation or tillage > cultivation of plants or crops > cultivation of specific crops > [verb (transitive)] > tie up hops
overpole1707
hover1847
furnish1848
rush1848
1847–78 J. O. Halliwell Dict. Archaic & Provinc. Words Hover..(2) To pack hops lightly, in order to defraud the measure. Kent.
1887 W. D. Parish & W. F. Shaw Dict. Kentish Dial. (at cited word) One of the pickers..then comes to hover the hops; this is done by putting both hands down to the bottom of the great basket..as soon as they [the hops] reach the top, they are quickly shot out into the green bag before they have time to sag or sink;..hovering is nothing more than a recognized system of fraud.
1897 Jrnl. Royal Agric. Soc. 3rd Ser. 8 63 The practice of hovering and turning is..most objectionable.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1899; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
> see also
also refers to : hover-comb. form
<
n.21513
adj.n.11669
v.1c1400v.21847see also