hoverhov‧er /ˈhɒvə $ ˈhʌvər, ˈhɑː-/ ●○○ verb 
Word Origin Examples
flies hovering above the surface of the water2[intransitive] to stay nervously in the same place, especially because you are waiting for something or are not certain what to do: Her younger brother hovered in the background watching us.hover around/about I noticed several reporters hovering around outside the courtroom.3[intransitive always + adverb/preposition] if a level, price etc hovers around a certain amount, it stays close to that amount, only changing slightly up or downhover around/between etc The dollar has been hovering around the 110 yen level.4[transitive always + adverb/preposition] to put the cursor on something on a computer screen, using the mousehover something over something When you hover the cursor over the image, the title of the image appears.
Word OriginWORD ORIGINhover
Verb TableOrigin:
1300-1400 hove ‘to float in the air or on water’ (13-17 centuries)VERB TABLE
hover
| Simple Form | ||
| Present | I, you, we, they | hover |
| he, she, it | hovers | |
| Past | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | hovered |
| Present perfect | I, you, we, they | have hovered |
| he, she, it | has hovered | |
| Past perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | had hovered |
| Future | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will hover |
| Future perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will have hovered |
| Continuous Form | ||
| Present | I | am hovering |
| he, she, it | is hovering | |
| you, we, they | are hovering | |
| Past | I, he, she, it | was hovering |
| you, we, they | were hovering | |
| Present perfect | I, you, we, they | have been hovering |
| he, she, it | has been hovering | |
| Past perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | had been hovering |
| Future | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will be hovering |
| Future perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will have been hovering |
EXAMPLES FROM THE CORPUS
Collocations- A clothes-line hangs between two high windows, hovering above like a tawdry hammock from the sky.
- But groups like Hilton and Sheraton were just hovering outside of the list, both with over 1,000 rooms in the United Kingdom.
- Community satisfaction and attachment was found to be relatively low, hovering around 50 percent.
- Perseus on his winged sandals hovered above them, looking, however, only at the shield.
- She wanders the stage, mike in hand like Betty Carter, often hovering over one of her accompanists, particularly Terrasson.
- True, synagogue membership and religious school enrollment both hover around 50 percent.
- With Watchbirds hovering everywhere, my confidence falters, my work loses momentum.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADVERB► above
1[intransitive] if a bird, insect, or helicopter hovers, it stays in one place in the airhover over/above· A clothes-line hangs between two high windows, hovering above like a tawdry hammock from the sky.
► around· Temperatures will hover around eight to ten degrees celsius, thats forty six to fifty fahrenheit with only a moderate breeze.· True, synagogue membership and religious school enrollment both hover around 50 percent.· Then wasps; a cloud of them hovered around my Virginia creeper where I suspected they had a nest.· Apple stock continued to slip Thursday, hovering around 28 per share.· Community satisfaction and attachment was found to be relatively low, hovering around 50 percent.· The mercury hovered around ninety, and so did the humidity.· Patrick hovered around the door for a few moments and then finally decided to brazen it out.· However, since the early 1950s government spending for goods and services has hovered around 20 percent of the national output.
► just· The needle was hovering just over the red.· Occasionally the chords flow together; a melody seems to be hovering just on the edge.· But groups like Hilton and Sheraton were just hovering outside of the list, both with over 1,000 rooms in the United Kingdom.· Often as not, our chairman just hovered quietly for a bit, then left.· One Hunter was hovering just above the castle.· A ground fog hovered just over the lawns of the neighborhood.· The temperature hovered just above freezing, and a brisk wind turned the rain into slanting sheets of icy daggers.
► over· Rhoda took to table-tapping and seances and reported seeing the ghost of Wendy hovering over her bed at night.· We hovered over to a fuel bladder at one end of the field to refuel.· That was how she felt - as though those dear supporting figures of her childhood were once again hovering over her.· The story ends at a funeral, hovered over by a surreal balloon, from which hangs a fancied female acrobat.· Swarms of flies and mosquitoes hover over the marshes.· In fact, the only bird of prey I ever saw hovering over the park was a kestrel.· The weight hovered over her shoulders, ready to settle.· Soon after, he checked out in Vegas, the suspicion of murder hovering over the coroner's report.
► still· The nurse was still hovering about the bed, patting the pillow, tucking in blankets and generally fussing over her patient.· The average quoted turnover rate still hovers at 10 percent in spite of worker bonuses, free healthcare and rides to work.· But as normality resumes, a strange myth still hovers around the popular uprising that overthrew Slobodan Milosevic.· The Opel was still hovering at the kerbside, lights glaring, waiting to pounce.· Then, as she watched him, still hovering indecisively, she felt an odd compassion stir her heart.· A smile still hovering round her mouth, she glanced up and through the mirror.
NOUN► air· Hovering close to the ground Let's go back to the situation where the model is hovering in calm air.· I saw the helicopter hover in the air, and then it crashed into our guest house.· A light rain hovers in the air.
► background· When they returned to the house Silas and Peter Bush walked from room to room with Lucy hovering in the background.· Tutilo hovered in the background, keeping himself modestly apart while his betters conferred.· Across the room Linda was repeating her apologies, Oliver hovering in the background.· She felt twitchy about that vile Angel who hovered shadowy in the background, waiting to perform some dreadful mischief.
► cloud· At the edge of the plain a new dust cloud hovered.· He had been staring up at the deep purple blanket with tiny freckles of stars and wisps of cloud hovering.· Then wasps; a cloud of them hovered around my Virginia creeper where I suspected they had a nest.· There was a great black cloud hovering over her head.· It's like a dark cloud continually hovering over us.
► edge· One could dissolve and still exist ... I hovered on the edge of consciousness, semi-asleep, making nonsense.· Occasionally the chords flow together; a melody seems to be hovering just on the edge.· Inside the briefing room of the Royaume Uni we hovered on the edge of Dunkirk as usual.· While Cookie hovers on the edge of death, Spoon is obliged to fill out an endless, baffling questionnaire.· Balfour hovered on the edge of the plot.· He was irritated, the chief inspector decided, by her obstinacy, and hovered on the edge of asking her again.
► hand· Norman's hand hovered over the padlock.· Her hand hovered over the phone, then pulled away.· His cheeks glistened with tears and his hand hovered over the head of the thing he had called his son.
► helicopter· The helicopters hovered overhead in formation.· I saw the helicopter hover in the air, and then it crashed into our guest house.· A giant helicopter was hovering overhead, its spotlight trained on the field below.· Each night as they lay in bed, they could hear army helicopters hovering over the parish.· With the helicopter hovering overhead, he drove for the peak of the leading wave, but then backed off.· Small patrol helicopters hovered over the treetops beyond the barbed wire.· He has been pictured in a Tarzan suit with a helicopter hovering over his head.· Police helicopters hovered and riot police were posted around the square and nearby side streets.
► percent· Community satisfaction and attachment was found to be relatively low, hovering around 50 percent.· True, synagogue membership and religious school enrollment both hover around 50 percent.· However, since the early 1950s government spending for goods and services has hovered around 20 percent of the national output.· Today, the rate hovers around 10 percent, the lowest level since the 1950s.· The average quoted turnover rate still hovers at 10 percent in spite of worker bonuses, free healthcare and rides to work.
► temperature· Not as cool but not as far as Flagstaff, the mile-high city boasts temperatures that hover in the low 90s.· The temperature hovered just above freezing, and a brisk wind turned the rain into slanting sheets of icy daggers.· Chilly mornings stretched into hellish afternoons as temperatures hovered around 100 degrees.
VERB► seem· Peter Lorre seemed almost to be hovering at Jack's elbow.· Occasionally the chords flow together; a melody seems to be hovering just on the edge.· Ever since Christmas, the thought of the amethyst brooch seemed to hover in his thoughts.· Just at first he seemed able to hover on the up draft, like a dry leaf.
flies hovering above the surface of the water2[intransitive] to stay nervously in the same place, especially because you are waiting for something or are not certain what to do: Her younger brother hovered in the background watching us.hover around/about I noticed several reporters hovering around outside the courtroom.3[intransitive always + adverb/preposition] if a level, price etc hovers around a certain amount, it stays close to that amount, only changing slightly up or downhover around/between etc The dollar has been hovering around the 110 yen level.4[transitive always + adverb/preposition] to put the cursor on something on a computer screen, using the mousehover something over something When you hover the cursor over the image, the title of the image appears.