(intr) (of certain birds, esp hawks) to remain in one place in the air by rapidly beating the wings
3.
(intr) to linger uncertainly in a nervous or solicitous way
4.
(intr) to be in a state of indecision: she was hovering between the two suitors
5.
(tr) computing to hold (the mouse pointer) over a defined area on a web page without clicking, in order to cause a menu, information box, etc to appear
—n
6.
the act of hovering
[C14: hoveren, variant of hoven, of obscure origin]
c.1400, hoveren, frequentative of hoven "hover, tarry, linger" (mid-13c.), of unknown origin, chiefly nautical at first, of ships standing off a coast. Hovercraft first attested 1959; a proprietary name after 1961.