rover1
/ˈrəʊvə
/noun
1A person who spends their time wandering: they became rovers who departed further and further from civilization...
- I could take on a crew and sail to Canada in my own boat instead of booking passage, or turn into a rover of the sea, going where I please and doing what I like.
- But who is he, this invisible being that rules me, this unknowable being, this rover of a supernatural race?
Synonyms
wanderer, traveller, globetrotter, drifter, bird of passage, roamer, itinerant, transient;
nomad, gypsy, Romany;
tramp, vagrant, vagabond;
North American hobo
informal gadabout
Scottish archaic landloper
2(In various sports) a player not restricted to a particular position on the field.
2.1 Australian Rules Football One of the three players making up a ruck, typically one who is small, fast, and skilful at receiving the ball.
3A vehicle for driving over rough terrain, especially one driven by remote control over extraterrestrial terrain: a lunar rover...
- So any reduction in wait time can be important particularly if you're remote-controlling a Mars rover.
- Both Mars rovers came into their landings faster than expected, only just decelerating in time even with the benefit of braking thrusters.
- This allows us to program the rover's traverses across the terrain visually and to place its arm with a high degree of precision.
4 Croquet A ball that has passed all the hoops but not pegged out.
4.1A player who has a rover ball.
5 Archery A mark for long-distance shooting.
5.1A mark chosen at random and not at a determined range.
6 (Rover or Rover Scout) A member of a Scouting organization aged around 17-24.It was between 1926 and 1936 that I was Scouting and I remember his dad at that time as a Rover Scout, as was my brother, who later became Cub Master.
Rhymes
rover2
/ˈrəʊvə/noun archaic
A pirate.
Origin
Middle English: from Middle Low German, Middle Dutch rōver, from rōven 'rob'; related to reave.
rover3
/ˈrəʊvə/noun
A person or machine that makes roves of fibre (see rove3).