roving Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun travelling about without any clear destination
    vagabondage; wandering.
    • she followed him in his wanderings and looked after him
  2. verb move about aimlessly or without any destination, often in search of food or employment
    ramble; stray; cast; swan; drift; wander; tramp; range; rove; roam; vagabond; roll.
    • The gypsies roamed the woods
    • roving vagabonds
    • the wandering Jew
    • The cattle roam across the prairie
    • the laborers drift from one town to the next
    • They rolled from town to town
  3. adjective satellite migratory
    mobile; wandering; nomadic; peregrine.
    • a restless mobile society
    • the nomadic habits of the Bedouins
    • believed the profession of a peregrine typist would have a happy future
    • wandering tribes

WordNet

Rov"ing noun
Definitions
  1. The operatin of forming the rove, or slightly twisted sliver or roll of wool or cotton, by means of a machine for the purpose, called a roving frame, or roving machine.
  2. A roll or sliver of wool or cotton drawn out and slightly twisted; a rove. See 2d Rove, 2.
Rov"ing noun
Definitions
  1. The act of one who roves or wanders.

Webster 1913