v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Roved p. pr. & vb. n. Roving. ] [ Cf. D. rooven to rob; akin to E. reave. See Reave, Rob. ] 1. To practice robbery on the seas; to wander about on the seas in piracy. [ Obs. ] Hakluyt. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Hence, to wander; to ramble; to rauge; to go, move, or pass without certain direction in any manner, by sailing, walking, riding, flying, or otherwise. [ 1913 Webster ]

For who has power to walk has power to rove. Arbuthnot. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Archery) To shoot at rovers; hence, to shoot at an angle of elevation, not at point-blank (rovers usually being beyond the point-blank range). [ 1913 Webster ]

Fair Venus' son, that with thy cruel dart
At that good knight so cunningly didst rove. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- To wander; roam; range; ramble stroll. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. 1. To wander over or through. [ 1913 Webster ]

Roving the field, I chanced
A goodly tree far distant to behold. milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To plow into ridges by turning the earth of two furrows together. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The act of wandering; a ramble. [ 1913 Webster ]

In thy nocturnal rove one moment halt. Young. [ 1913 Webster ]

Rove beetle (Zool.), any one of numerous species of beetles of the family Staphylinidae, having short elytra beneath which the wings are folded transversely. They are rapid runners, and seldom fly. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. A copper washer upon which the end of a nail is clinched in boat building. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A roll or sliver of wool or cotton drawn out and slighty twisted, preparatory to further process; a roving. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ perhaps fr. or akin to reeve. ] 1. To draw through an eye or aperture. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To draw out into flakes; to card, as wool. Jamieson. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To twist slightly; to bring together, as slivers of wool or cotton, and twist slightly before spinning. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ D. roover a robber. See Rove, v. i. ] 1. One who practices robbery on the seas; a pirate. [ 1913 Webster ]

Yet Pompey the Great deserveth honor more justly for scouring the seas, and taking from the rovers 846 sail of ships. Holland. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. One who wanders about by sea or land; a wanderer; a rambler. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Hence, a fickle, inconstant person. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. (Croquet) 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. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. (Archery) (a) Casual marks at uncertain distances. Encyc. Brit. [ 1913 Webster ]

(b) A sort of arrow. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

All sorts, flights, rovers, and butt shafts. B. Jonson. [ 1913 Webster ]

At rovers, at casual marks; hence, at random; as, shooting at rovers. See def. 5 (a) above. Addison. [ 1913 Webster ] Bound down on every side with many bands because it shall not run at rovers. Robynson (More's Utopia). [ 1913 Webster ]