verb (used without object)
1.
to walk, go, or travel without a fixed purpose or direction; ramble; wander; rove: to roam about the world.
verb (used with object)
2.
to wander over or through: to roam the countryside.
noun
3.
an act or instance of roaming; a ramble.
Origin:
1300–50; Middle English romen < ?
1300–50; Middle English romen < ?
Related forms
roam·er, noun
un·roam·ing, adjective
Synonyms
1. stray, stroll, prowl. Roam, ramble, range, rove imply wandering about over (usually) a considerable amount of territory. Roam implies a wandering or traveling over a large area, especially as prompted by restlessness or curiosity: to roam through a forest. Ramble implies pleasant, carefree moving about, walking with no specific purpose and for a limited distance: to ramble through fields near home. Range usually implies wandering over a more or less defined but extensive area in search of something: Cattle range over the plains. Rove sometimes implies wandering with specific incentive or aim, as an animal for prey: Bandits rove through these mountains.
1. stray, stroll, prowl. Roam, ramble, range, rove imply wandering about over (usually) a considerable amount of territory. Roam implies a wandering or traveling over a large area, especially as prompted by restlessness or curiosity: to roam through a forest. Ramble implies pleasant, carefree moving about, walking with no specific purpose and for a limited distance: to ramble through fields near home. Range usually implies wandering over a more or less defined but extensive area in search of something: Cattle range over the plains. Rove sometimes implies wandering with specific incentive or aim, as an animal for prey: Bandits rove through these mountains.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
Cite This Source
|
Link To roam
Collins
World English Dictionary
roam (rəʊm) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —vb | |
| 1. | to travel or walk about with no fixed purpose or direction; wander |
| —n | |
| 2. | the act of roaming |
| [C13: origin unknown] | |
| 'roamer | |
| —n | |
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
00:10
Roam
is one of our favorite verbs.
So is lollygag. Does it mean:
| to introduce subtleties into or argue subtly about. |
| to spend time idly; loaf. |
Etymonline
Word Origin & History
roam
c.1300, romen, possibly from O.E. *ramian "act of wandering about," related to aræman "arise, lift up." There are no cognate forms in other Gmc. languages. "Except in late puns, there is no evidence of connexion with the Romance words denoting pilgrims or pilgrimages to Rome ...." [OED].
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Example sentences
Pro-government militias roam the countryside, terrorising and beating suspected opposition supporters.
Other mammals, such as elephants and western giraffes, also roam these lands.
If you leave the house while making a call, you roam seamlessly back on to the ordinary mobile network.
Less than two years old, the sanctuary gives the chimps nearly one hundred acres of tropical rain forest to roam in safety.
Nearby Words
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